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TABLE OF CONTENTS
IIMINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS, ITHACA,
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jINEW YORK - MAY 4 , 1981
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' APPEAL NO. 5-1-81 Tompkins County Trust Co. 2
875 S. Meadow Street
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APPEAL NO. 5-1-81 Executive Session 8
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APPEAL NO. 1361 Rex & Helen Whitman 9
110 Westbourne Lane
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APPEAL NO. 1361 Executive Session 39
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APPEAL NO. 1362 Charles Fritschler 40
801 E. State Street
( APPEAL NO, 1362 Executive Session 45
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APPEAL NO. 1363 Anthony J. Albanese 46
201 Dey Street
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+ APPEAL NO, 1363 Executive Session 51
APPEAL NO. 1364 James Iacovelli 52
524 Linn Street
j, APPEAL NO. 1364 Executive Session 55
( APPEAL NO. 1365 Veda E, Quick 56
302 Madison Street
IJAPPEAL NO. 1365 Executive Session 69
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jCERTIFICATE OF RECORDING SECRETARY 70
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BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS
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CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK
�I MAY 4 , 1981
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Ci ACTING CHAIRMAN WILCOX: I am calling together the May meeting of the
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,jZoning Board of Appeals . The Board operates under the provisions
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iof the City of Ithaca Charter and the Ithaca Zoning Ordinance and
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; the Ithaca Sign Ordinance. Present this evening are :
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Peggy Haine
Charles Weaver
i� Morris Angell
Ij Peter Walsh
I William Wilcox
II Thomas D. Hoard, Building Commis-
sioner & Secy to the Board
Barbara Ruane , Recording Secretary
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ABSENT: Alfred C. Aman
; For those of you who haven't been here before , we call the cases in
�lorder and we ask that those seeking the variance come forward and
, state their reasons as succinctly as possible , as to why they feel
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;! they are entitled to a variance. There may be questions from the
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liBoard which we ask that you respond to so after we have heard you;
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l! presentation we will then ask whether there is anyone in the audience
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to speak in support of the variance requested. Then we will take
� up those speaking against the variance . We will follow the pattern
in every case. Now we don't follow rigid rules of evidence but
we do base our decisions on the record. That record is compiled
and it consists of the statements made at this hearing. Therefore '
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lilt is important that you come forward, make your statements from
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1this podium so that our recording device will pick you up on the
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�ftape and become part of the record. Now there is a tendency in
some cases for people to speak from the back of the room they
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; shout out a sentence or two and you are not going to get on the
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; record, so if you have anything to say on a case just remember
; that you do have to come forward so that it gets recorded. Now
i1after we hear all the cases , the Board will go into executive ses-
' sion and deliberate and then we will reconvene to announce our
iresults at the end of the evening, Very often that is two or three
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( hours , so keep that in mind if you are going to wait around. I
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think we have a pretty long docket tonight so we will probably be
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pretty late . Now, although we want to hear everybody and hear
what you have to say, and be sure that you have told us what you i
came here to tell us , do so but please be as succinct and try to
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avoid repetition because we do have a long docket tonight. I guess
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that' s about it for the introduction so Mr. Secretary could we have
the first case?
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SECRETARY HOARD: First of all , Mr . Chairman, I want to point out
� if there is anyone here on the Broome Developmental Services , Appeal
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No . 1359 , for 618 N. Aurora Street - that has been held over one
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month by the Planning Board and also on appeal no. 1360 for 58
Woodcrest Avenue has been held over for a month.. So , then the first
appeal tonight is sign appeal no . 5-1-81 :
Appeal of Tompkins County Trust
Company for a sign variance under
Section 34 . 6 , Paragraph A (Number
and type of signs permitted in a
B-5 zone) to permit the addition
of a third wall sign on the bank
building at 875 South Meadow Street
(Tompkins County Trust Company) .
The requested sign would bring the
total number of wall signs on the
building to three, exceeding the
maximum permitted in the B-5 (busil-
ness) use district in which the
property is located.
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CHAIRMAN AMAN: Is there somebody here to speak in favor of the
variance first : !
MR. CLYNES: I haven't appeared here in a number of years , eviden-
tally the ground rules are a little bit different than they were.
gather there is no sworn testimony?
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: No, just give your name and address first at the
microphone.
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MR. CLYNES : Well , I 'm James J. Clynes , Jr. and I'm attorney for tho
Tompkins County Trust Company. I would first like to file with the
secretary the necessary affidavit of mailing to the adjoining land
,owners and I have with me Charles W. Bell , vice president of the
Trust Company who is in charge of Buildings and Properties but for
the record I would like to make a statement that inadvertently and
through no fault of anybody and I 'm not being critical but an in-
quiry was made a week ago today and it was ascertained from the cit
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that there was no necessity for the bank to have a representative
lappear at the Planning Board meeting so we did not attend and then
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lit came to my attention not through the city but from a person who
did attend that meeting that the reason for the Planning Board' s
4,negative recommendation to the Board of Zoning Appeals was if the
bank didn' t care enough to be there then the recommendation should
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The negative. We do care and we are here and I would like to ask Mr,.
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IlBell to make a presentation and perhaps I could ask him some ques-
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'tions or the Board can, after he makes the presentation. He does
shave some sketches with him. The only variance we are seeking is
the number of signs from two to three because the total signage,
even with the three, if granted, is within the perimeter of 250
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�Isquare feet. Charlie .
'�R. BELL: My name is Charles Bell , Vice President of the Tompkins
lCounty Trust Company. I think the building that is in question -
the reason that we are asking for this variance is because of the
ature of the building itself - is how it is built. It is on a
triangular lot . Now I have a picture here that does show the build -
iing and see, this goes down the Elmira Road, this street - this goe�
down Meadow Street and as you are coming in from Meadow Street you
�ould see our time and temperature sign coming down. We are asking ',
'to put a sign on the Meadow Street side and we are also asking to
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put a sign on the Elmira Road side for exposure for those that are
riving up the Elmira Road and for exposure to those driving up the ,
eadow Street. Now the sign that we are planning to put up looks
like this - it is just our logo indicating that we have been bankers
ince 1836 and as Mr. Clynes indicated, we are still within the proper
footage for the signs. Does any one have any questions as to
i'�R. CLYNES: Mr. Chairman is there any way of having the record in
4icate by exhibit 1 or exhibit 2 that the photographs . . . ?
SMR. CHAIRMAN: Well we usually keep these for awhile,
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I�R. CLYNES : Oh, okay.
I�R. BELL: I ' ll get them back?
HAIRMAN WILCOX: Oh, yes, You can leave those right here. Anybody
�n the Board want to see these closer?
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1 R. WALSH: What is the actual area measuring the outline of the
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11signs proposed?
�MR. CLYNES: The total of the three?
MR. WALSH: No , each of the two.
� MR. CLYNES: We have one up. We are proposing two more which takes
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us one beyond the . . .
IMR. BELL: One is 5172 width and 71 in length.
CHAIRMAN AMAN: Could you elaborate a little more? i
IMR. BELL: The total square footage is 39. 9 - that' s for both.
MR. WALSH: You are talking about putting two of the signs - one on
each exposure - one toward the south and one toward the north?
�MR. BELL: Right.
MR. CLYNES : The one that is shown in that one is up and we propose
the other two.
MR. BELL: The time and temperature sign is already there.
MR. CLYNES: The time and temperature is already there. But the
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total of the three are under the 250.
MR. BELL: We have had approval for one sign and we are asking for
a variance for one more sign on the . . .
MR. WALSH: So without this approval you would have the option of
taking down the time and temperature and putting up one more of such
a nature as you already . . .
MR. BELL: Option, yes . The time and temperature - it would be
pretty difficult to take that down but the option is there.
MR. ANGELL: Tom, how many signs are they allowed, three?
SECRETARY HOARD: Two .
IR. CLYNES: Two.
SECRETARY HOARD: Two.
R. ANGELL: Two, total? They are allowed. . . .
SECRETARY HOARD: They are allowed either one sign, free standing,
plus a sign on the face of the building or two signs on the face of
the building but this property faces in two directions so they woul
like to have a sign here and a sign here (_pointing at the exhibit)
which would be three. One thing that is peculiar that l should port
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out is that this is actually - this free-standing sign is actuall
a three-sided affair.
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iMR. ANGELL: Oh, that is on all three sides of that chimney?
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jSECRETARY HOARD: Right. So the free-standing sign would be con- I
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Isidered - two sides would be considered as one . I don't know what
lyou do with a three-sided free-standing sign.
MR. ANGELL: But that is now, in effect , three signs?
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SECRETARY HOARD: No, we are counting this as a free-standing sign,
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period.
SMR. ANGELL: But it goes on all sides of that chimney or whatever
it is?
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1SECRETARY HOARD: This is - the cross section is triangular.
IMR. BELL: That' s a triangular.
SECRETARY HOARD; Looking from above this chimney is a triangle and;
�jit has this arrangement or would have this arrangement on each face
R. WALSH: What has it now?
�IMR. ANGELL: What has it - yes . . .
(SECRETARY HOARD: It has this on it now (pointing to TCTC sign) .
R. BELL: That' s what it has - Tompkins County Trust Company.
l�R. ANGELL: So in other words you want to put three signs on that
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'one side and an additional sign to the building itself?
SIR. BELL: No . We already have the one that is already there.
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1All we are asking for
`CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Where do yQu want to put the wall sign?
(!SECRETARY HOARD: One over here (pointing) and one here (pointing
to exhibit) .
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R. BELL: ane there and one there.
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R. ANGELL: So in other words , theytve got five signs?
�R. BELL: No.
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R. CLYNES : No, they've got three.
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CHAIRMAN WILCOX: By counting this as one two - three (pointing
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Ito picture) . i
��R. ANGELL: In effect, it ' s five.
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!SECRETARY HOARD: Well a free-standing sign, if it ' s a normal , free,
+standing, two faced, freestanding sign, it ' s counted as one sign.
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Okay? You' ll end up only being able to see one anyway, so . . .
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I,MR. WALSH: Mr. Bell , how much of your clientele are people who comb
'Ito the bank for the first time?
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SMR. BELL: I couldn't tell you. One of the . . .
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;NIR. CLYNES : That particular branch? This is a branch . . .
{SIR. WALSH: I guess what I am driving at is - what is the felt
i�ecessity for this addition of signs? It strikes me that a bank' s
I� lientele is , by its very nature, something that . . .
R. BELL: They would go there because . . .
R. WALSH: They are established there - they work in the area . . .
R. BELL: Once they find it that ' s true. Like anything, once they'
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1�ind it they know where it is and they go there all the time but we '
h- how many of the people that come to us that we open new accounts
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� - which we opened up quite a few every day -how many of them come
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(there because they did see our sign or how many are we not getting
�ecause they didn't see it - a sign, I haven't the slightest idea.
Ipne of our problems and this is one of the reasons we are changing j
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bur signs - as you might see in there - shows that we are changing
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}to Tompkins County Trust Company, we are now adding "Bankers since
''1836" because of the new people who come to the area aren't aware
ilhat the Tompkins County Trust Company, as such, is a bank.
�MR. WALSH: I 'm concerned, frankly, about adding signs where there
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tljis no legitimate (unintelligible) purpose served by it. Just to
1say attracting people who otherwise might not come there because of!
;the signs .
R. BELL: Well you know as well as I that Ithaca changes every
)season, we get new people and how many of them drive by our branch
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116n don't know we are there- I haven't the slightest idea, but I ' d!
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'like to know. We are spending a lot of money to put a sign up there,
iI 'd like to think that it would bring it to someone's attention.
fR. WALSH: I would hope it was money well spent - I have an account
i jat TCTC.
jCHAIRMAN WILCOX: If there was a choice between the free-standing
!sign and the signs on the building, would you want to make a choice?
(MR. BELL: No.
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CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Will you make a choice?
IMR. BELL: Obviously I' ll have to , yes I ! 11 have to. I guess ally
iI 'm looking fords exposure on the Meadow street side as well as the
. . . . I haven't been to one of these before but we are not putting \
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up anything that is distasteful at all . It is going to be . . .
j MR. CLYNES : And we are within the 250 . . .
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`I MR. BELL: We are not going over the limit of how many signs -
fthe square footage.
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= CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay, any other questions? Any other new
questions? Okay, thank you.
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MR. CLYNES: I gather there is nothing from the audience?
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'I CHAIRMAN WILCOX: We' ll get to that. Is there anyone else
who would like to speak in favor of the variance? (no one) Is
there anyone here who would like to speak in opposition? (no one)
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Any other questions from the Board? Okay, next case.
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BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS
CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK
j MAY 4 , 1981
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EXECUTIVE SESSION
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APPEAL NO. 5-1-81 :
The Board considered the appeal of Tompkins County Trust Company
�Ifor a sign variance to permit the addition of a third wall sign on !
�' the bank building at 875 South Meadow Street. The requested sign
would bring the total number of wall signs on the building to three,
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�iexceeding the maximum permitted in the B-5 (business) use district '
Iain which the property is located. The decision of the Board was as;
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follows :
f!MR. WALSH: I move that the Board approve the sign variance
requested in appeal number 5-1-81.
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: I second the motion.
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I+ FINDINGS OF FACT:
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11) That the total area of the signs including that proposed would
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H be below the maximum permitted by the Ordinance in that zone .
2) The particular sign proposed, affixed to the face of the build
ing would not itself constitute an eyesore.
� 3) The nature of the area in which the building is situated is
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f such that in order to identify it to automobile traffic it must
be signed from each direction.
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l4) The additional sign would not harm the character of the neigh-
borhood,
! VOTE:
eighborhood.
! VOTE: 2 Yes; 2 No ; 1 Abstention Denied.
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BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
!! COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS
�! CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK
MAY 4 , 1981
1SECRETARY HOARD: The next case is appeal number 1361 :
Appeal of Rex and Helen Whitman for an interpre-
tation of Section 30. 25 , Columns 7 and 11 to
permit the use of the property at 110 Westbourne
Lane for a multiple dwelling. The property is
! located in an R-U (residential) use district bd,t
does not have frontage on a public right-of-way,,
as required by the District Regulations (West-
bourne Lane is a privately owned street) .
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CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay, is there somebody here to speak in favor o
the appeal?
11MR. GALBRAITH: Thank you. My name is Dirk Galbraith, I am the Whit-
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mans attorney and I have professional offices at 308 N. Tioga Street
, in the City of Ithaca. This is a request for an interpretation of
the provisions of the Zoning Ordinance and therefore I think it is
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probably appropriate that I speak on the point rather than Mr. Whit-
iman who is here with me this evening, but if anybody has any ques
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itions they would like to direct to Mr. Whitman, after I get done , e
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�would be happy to answer them for you. The property that we are
(! speaking about here 110 Westbourne Lane is located on what has
!; been described as a private street. The street is kind of a horse ;
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!, shoe - it connects with Wyckoff at one end and with Highland at the
( other end. It is quite near the borderline between the City of
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Ithaca and the Village of Cayuga Heights . I 'd like to call the
lBoard's attention first of all to the provisions of the Zoning Ordil-
nance specifically, Section 34 . 25 , Column 7 , states that in respect
to minimum lot size - it is here after used for permitted use in etch
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district shall be frontage measured on a public right--of-way equals
Ito or greater than the width specified in the column. Now the Ordi -
nance here does not say frontage measured upon a public street or
ian Ithaca City Street, rather it says a public right-of-way. I be-
TIlieve that everything considered, Westbourne Lane is , as a matter of
i law and in point of fact , a public right-of-way. First of all
! Westbourne Lane appears on every map of the streets of the City of
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, Ithaca, which have ever seen. It is approxmately25 ! in width
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(iit certainly can accommodate vehicular traffic and it has done so
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Ifor quite a number of years . On the street beside the Whitman' s
resident there are a number of fraternity houses which also use the;
street as a means of access . There is public garbage collection
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Ilalong this street which is provided by the City of Ithaca and al-
though the City of Ithaca does not plow the street in the winter,
this is taken care of, apparently gratuitously by the Village of
Cayuga Heights so that it is plowed. Obviously its open at both
ends and if you or I were to drive our automobile up there right
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now we could drive down Westbourne Lane completely unimpeded. The
Whitmans acquired this property, actually Mr. Whitman did, from his,
parents by inheritance. The last deed to this property which was
the deed to Mr. Whitman's parents , describes Westbourne Lane in
the following way: it is described as running from Wyckoff Avenue
to Highland Avenue, reserved for the mutual accommodation of the
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adjoining property owners and for public travel . So the legal des-1
icription of Westbourne Lane is that of quite literally a public
right-of-way and I 'd like to submit a copy of the deed to the Board
tonight and ask that it be made a part of the record. I think that
we are talking about a fairly narrow question here about the identity
of Westbourne Lane and I think that it ' s primarily a legal question
and that is what is a public right-ofsway? The nearest analogy in
the law that I could come up with on this question was the provisic ns
of the vehicle in traffic law - specifically Section 134 . That ' s
the definition of a public highway. Public highway is any highway,
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road, street, avenue, alley, public place, public driveway or any
other public way. Therefore I would suggest that Westbourne Lane ,
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among other things , probably qualifies very definitely qualifies
as a public highway and I imagine if someone were caught speeding
down it they could be issued a ticket by one of the City Police.
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As a matter of policy, I would suggest to the Board that it would
be somewhat unfair to deny the Whitmans the right to use their
property productively because the street that they are on has not i
been dedicated as a public street and if you were to reason other
( wise and follow that conclusion to its logical end, any use on
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IlWestbourne Lane or any other private street in the City of Ithaca
I�could not be a permitted use. In other words you would have quite la
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!number of properties in the City for which, under a literal appli-!
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! cation of the Zoning Ordinance there would be no permitted uses and
; for that reason I feel that - as a matter of law, fairness and policy,
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�Ithe Board of Zoning Appeals should interpret the provisions of the !
kOrdinance in such a manner that Westbourne Lane be held to be a
1public right-of-way and that the Whitmans be entitled to the use of
their property on the same manner as any other residence in the City.
!,CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay. Parking, no problem with parking? They hajve
proposed eight parking . . .
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I,SECRETARY HOARD: According to the information I was given, the
11proposed use was as a multiple dwelling a rooming house with eight '
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]!rooms to rent, is that correct?
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!!MR. GALBRAITH; That is correct.
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'SECRETARY HOARD; Which would require eight spaces and I believe that
1the property line is where it is shown to be - that they have the
;!parking.
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!!CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Any questions? Any questions on the interpretation
1'of the definition of the street?
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!!MR. ANGELL: Has the City Attorney. . . .
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ijCHAIRMAN WILCOX: No the City Attorney doesn`t . . .
!SECRETARY HOARD: The City Attorney does not rule on interpretation's
I:,of the Zoning Ordinance.. That is this. Board's responsibility.
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I'MR. ANGELL: Well, I 'm just merely noting what the Planning Board
Idid - which was to refer it to the City Attorney.
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`SECRETARY HOARD: Well, the Planning Board, as with matters with
interpretation, do not even go through the Planning Board. The
!'Planning Board rules on variances, special permits or makes recom- I
11mendations on variances for special permits but not on interpreta
jltions .
CHAIRMAN WILCOX, Okay, let me review a couple of things . It ' s
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jplowed regularly?
MR, GALBRAITH; Yes .
`CHAIRMAN WILCOX: The garbage is collected?
� MR. GALBRAITH: Yes
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CHAIRMAN WILCOX: How about repairs to the street?
MR. GALBRAITH: I am advised by Mr. Whitman that in the past , re
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11 pairs have been performed cheaply by the members of the fraternitijes
which are also on Westbourne Lane - on a volunteer basis . Mr.
j� Whitman advises me that the street is presently in a state of good]
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�h repair.
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Do you know how many fraternities are there now?,i
MR. GALBRAITH: Well , I have listed them on the mailing list that
these notices went out to. If you could give me just a second, I
� could get my list out and tell you. �
MR. ANGELL: Are there any other houses on that street?
' CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Private houses .
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MR. GALBRAITH: Yes there are, I believe there is only one house o�
the street, however, that is not devoted to a multiple resident us ,
�i although I could stand to be subject to correction on that. In
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response to your earlier question, Scorpion Chapter of TKE frater
nity is apparently - I believe that is located on Westbourne Lane .l
Alpha Gamma Roe, I believe is located not on Westbourne Lane but il .
the general vicinity.
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CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Across from the end of it,
MR. GALBRAI'TH: Yes. And Cerebus Fraternity - I don't think I am
pronouncing that right - Cerebus Fraternity is also located in the
immediate area at least within 200 feet of the subject property.
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MR, WALSH: Dirk, has that street ever been closed to public trafflic?
MR, GALBRAITH; No , to the best of my knowledge .
4 MR, WALSH: Could it be?
MR. GALBRAITH: Not legally, in my estimation. The deed describes
` it as having been reserved for the mutual accommodation of the ad-
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joining property owners and for public travel, j
MR, WALSH: What's the date of that deed?
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II MR, GALBRAITH; This deed was, as I said, to Mr. Whitman' s parents
�f and it is dated April 11 , 1961 .
CHAIRMAN WILCOX; Do you know where the nearest fire hydrant is?
MR, WHITMAN: I believe it is right down on Highland Avenue .
CHAIRMAN WILCOX,, Do you want to just repeat that?
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MR. GALBRAITH: That would be on Highland Avenue near the inter-
section
nter-
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section with Westbourne Lane? Could I ask what approximately -
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what distance is that from your residence?
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MR. WHITMAN: 150 - probably - or 200 feet.
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MR. GALBRAITH: Probably 150 - 250 feet away.
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MR. WALSH: What was the use of the street itself before the 18611
deed?
MR. GALBRAITH: To the best of my knowledge, historically, this h s
always been apublic lane going back as far as anyone can remember.
It has never been closed to public travel .
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: I used to deliver newspapers there.
MR. ANGELL: And it is maintained by whom?
MR. GALBRAITH: It` s plowed . . .
MR. ANGELL: Maintained . . .
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MR. GALBRAITH: Oh, I see. It 's been maintained in terms of re-
pairing the chuck holes , and things like that, on a volunteer bas ' s ,
chiefly by fraternities located on Westbourne Lane. Mr . Whitman i
advised me that in previous years the fraternity had actually und�r-
i taken to pave the entire street although that has not been done
recently. What has been done recently is that members of the
fraternity have filled potholes that appeared on the street.
MR. WALSH: Aside from the analogy to the definition of public
highway in the (_unintelligible) traffic law, can you advise us a
to what characteristics mark a public right-of-way in common law?
MR. GALBRAITH: Well , okay. I think that the one that you asked
about earlier - and that is just general access to the public - i
�I the central one. Secondly, the physical possibility of ingress
I� and egress by vehicular traffic, which again is certainly present
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here, I think historically such things as its appearance on city
maps , where it is not really distinguished as a private street in
Ia any way, references to it in deed from the surrounding owners , of
which Mr. Whitman is one as being a public right-of-way, I think
certainly your are even if the deed didn't exist, as it does ,
your adjoining owner would have a prescriptive right over West-
bourne Lane . In other words , a right to prevent any other owner
from shutting them off.
i
!
- 14 -
MR. WALSH: How many adjoining owners are there on this land here?j
MR. GALBRAITH: I better ask Mr. Whitman. Do you know how many
property owners . . .
�i CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Mr. Whitman, would you like to come forward be-
cause there are a couple other questions I think you could help usi
!! with so . . . . just state your name and address for the record pleajse?
MR. WHITMAN: Yes . My name is Rex Whitman and I lige at 110 West-!
borune Lane and I believe the question was how many residences arse
Ij on Westbourne Lane?
I
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Yes.
Ij I
MR. WHITMAN: There is four that front on Westbourne Lane and there
i
I�
iis one house on the corner of Westbourne Lane and Highland Avenue
(; which actually fronts on Highland but it is a corner lot that has
li I
frontage along Westbourne Lane.
CHAIRMAN AMAN; Okay, if you go in from Highland down Westbourne,
i; you go right down to Wyckoff - that' s all Westbourne?
! i
I
MR. WHITMAN: Yes.
?i
J CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay.
I
MR. ANGELL: This is not a through street or through lane or howevjer
you want to designate it but it is a cul-de-sat that circles back;?
I ��
!� CHAIRMAN WILCOX: No, it goes in, turns right and goes down to
I
Wyckoff.
MR. WHITMAN; It cuts off the corner at a right angle . Makes a Kittle
curve-there ,
i
i !
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay, any other . . .
MR. ANGELL: Then it does go straight through?
MR. WHITMAN; Yes .
ii MR. WEAVER; When it departs westward from Highland Avenue it is
11 going almost due west and then it makes nearly a 90 degree turn
i
over to Wykoff
I
CHAIRMAN WILCOX; My recollection is that downhill section is not
! maintained too well but maybe it has been lately. Alright we've
II
I got a fix on that. Any other questions?
ii MS. HAINE ; Are you planning to keep this property?
!� MR. WHITMAN; No, I 'd like to sell .
I
ii
I;
-
I
I
Ij MS. HAINE: And you have a buyer?
MR. WHITMAN: Yes.
MS. HAINE : Is that Mr. Lower?
MR. WHITMAN: Yes.
;I
MR. WEAVER: Just for clarification, there are actually existing
i
structures - two other existing structures on Westbourne that are
I
served by Westbourne Lane, is that correct?
MR. WHITMAN: Two other. There would be . . .
MR. WEAVER: Three others?
,i MR. WHITMAN: There is a total of four that front on Westbourne
�I
Lane - so there would be three others other than mine.
MR. WEAVER: Thank you.
MR. ANGELL: Two fraternities and one other private residence?
I
MR. WHITMAN: Yes . j
MR. ANGELL: A total of four.
I
') MR. WHITMAN: Is that a fraternity that 's on the end of the street;
I
it was a fraternity it used to be the Beta Sigma Roe I 'm not!
,! sure . . .
j I
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Well , there is kind of a turnaround in the
ii intersection, down there - a bigger area - like parking for the
'I
i students - at the intersection, where it bends . , . .
MR. WHITMAN: Yes , that ' s for the accommodation of the last - on
(i
� the west side. j
j MR. ANGELL: The one additional private residence, right?
'j
ij MR. WHITMAN: Yes .
MR. ANGELL: And two fraternity houses?
MR. WHITMAN: One is the TKE house , I 'm not sure what the last
I
house is - whether it is a fraternity or whether that' s a - I 'm no�
sure whether that ' s a rooming house or a fraternity or just what i�
�I
�I is _ or a multiple dwelling house. There are students living therg.
MR. WALSH: Mr. Whitman, what is the total lane that we are - the
paved portion of Westbourne Lane that we are talking about?
MR. WHITMAN: I 'd have to guess.
MR. WALSH: Best estimate?
,SMR. WHITMAN: Probably 500 ' and that 's just a guess, Maybe 600. 'i
i
i CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Any other questions? Is there anything else you
i
1
16 -
1
j would like to say while you are up here?
�i MR. GALBRAITH: No, I would just like to give you a copy of the defied
Ithat I referred to.
� CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Alright. Is there anyone else here that would
i
g y �
�i like to speak in favor of the variance? Interpretation, in other
I
words want to make a statement about the interpretation of this
I
variance by the BZA. Is there anybody who wants to say anything
about the interpretation? Would you come forward please and stat
I
your name and address . . .
MR. BUYOUCOS: I 'm going to say something later about the interpret
tati b i I could ask Mr. Galbraith and the Board
on but I wonder £
some questions which are not clear at all to me. Is this an appli�-
I
cation for a building permit now? 1
MR. GALBRAITH: No, this is an application for an interpretation
of the Ordinance.
i
MR. BUYOUCOS: Because, am I correct in saying that if this is in
an R-U?
MR. GALBRAITH: Yes , that is correct.
MR. BUYOUCOS : And it says for multiple dwellings there must be a j
frontage of 125 ! .
MR. GALBRAITH: That is correct.
� MR. BUYOUCOS: Does it have 125 `?
i I
�IMR. GALBRAITH: That is correct.
MR. BUYOUCOS: Does it have 125' ?
MR. GALBRAITH; Yes , there is 1271 .
; MR. BUYOUCOS: I see.
I
CHAIRMAN WILCOX; Would you identify yourself for the record plea e?
MR. BUYOUCOS: Itm James Buyoucos and I 'm representing Professor
Frye, Jeffrey Frye, who is in California.
CHAIRMAN WILCOX. Could you give his address too?
MR.. BUYOUCOS: And he is the owner of tax parcel 816 , which will
11
appear on the tax assessment map which we will present to the
Board. I may be also for Professor Salpeter.
I CHAIRMAN WILCOX, Well , I have no objections to one attorney aski g
ii the other questions . Does anybody have any objections to that?
i
(none)
i
i - 17 -
�i
I! MR. BUYOUCOS: Well we just wanted to know what the status was . Is
i
i1this the only matter that stands in the way of issuing a building
i
;; permit?
MR. GALBRAITH: To the best of my knowledge .
{! MR. BUYOUCOS: You see the tax map shows less than 125 - that ' s whys
I, I asked the question.
'! MR. GALBRAITH: The information that I got from the Building Com- i
i,
jlmissioner was that there is 127 ' of frontage and that seems to
Ii
I square with the information I 've got from the property owner. I
! think the difference may be there is an eight foot parcel that was
!. picked up in a - that' s a separate parcel on the same deed that may of
may not have been included in that tax map description.
} CHALRMAN WILCOX; Is there anyone else who would like to speak j
11on this matter of interpretation? Yes sir, would you come and
! state your name please?
J` MR. SALPETER: I 'm Ed Salpeter from 116 Westbourne Lane, one of
Mr. Whitman' s next door neighbors . Before T speak against the ap
peal , let me sort of make a general statement , if I may. My wife j
land I moved in about sixteen years ago. We were happy to move into
i
is mixed neighborhood. Some fraternities , some rooming houses and ii
; some single family houses. So let me just set the record straights
right now there are five houses if you include the corner house
` and its actually now only one fraternity and two rooming houses
(i
{! and the two private dwellings, the Whitmans and us. As I say, we
shave enjoyed having Whitmans as neighbors - we ' d love to continue l
�jto have single family neighbors . Two single families is a mixed
h neighborhood, if it ' s down to a single - single family neighborhooc}
it may be token integration, but its likely to not last very longi.
i
,11 am particularly sort of wary on a purely emotional side because
the very next door house to the Whitmans, on the other side from
' us, is a rooming house and it is a particularly badly kept one.
i
There is mess all over the front yard and so I would hate to have
!! that example set to one house right next to it . If I may come
,Ito the appeal itself, I can't sort of talk in legal language and
AI
I' I can certainly understand that for purposes of zoning that West-
bourne Lane or any other single lane should
I g be defined as something
I
I!
! - 18 -
�lor other, but I would hope that the zoning rules would be different'
'numerically for a single lane street. I won't even talk much about
!the subject that was already mentioned that the City of Ithaca and
I
1190% of the lane is in the City of Ithaca does not plow
lit. We found once or twice and said "gee we can't get through and
Iwe were told well, it ' s not a city street and, of course, the pot
�r
liholes were already discussed. But the main thing I want to talk
i
about is that it is a single lane. Incidentally, one other thing,
I understand it may be a right-of-way but I also understand that
!say, if two fools parked their cars right on the lane or half way on
the footpath and the lane, on either side of me , I can't phone the i
jpolice and say, tow it away immediately, at least I can' t it
doesn' t work that automatically as it would on a city street.
'Secondly, being a single lane, if those two cars are parked on
(I
either side of our house and there should be any trouble in our
�jhouse, there is just absolutely no way at all for a fire truck to
jlget through. So what I am hoping at some stage or another I don' t
fIknow whether this is the place that there would be some zoning laws
j!
!for single lane streets but I would hope that the footage required
I
! on the road would be greater than the number of parking lots per a
i
;!resident would be somewhat greater just to decrease the probabilityl
!I i
Ijof some fool parking in the middle of that lane . Thank you.
MR. WALSH; Professor Salpeter, do you consider it now to be in
i
�ieffect a public way?
G I
IMR. SALPETER; Well , as I said, I am not a lawyer and I
�11MR. WALSH; Apart from being a lawyer, who are basically troublesome
jl
11creatures , do you consider this to be a right-of-way open to the
public? or one which could be shut off to persons not resident
.i
!!there?
jMR, SALPETER; I have no idea, I 'd have to ask Jim, Buyoucos and he
may talk later anyway.
�MR. ANGELL; Have you in any way, Professor, maintained that road,
� !I
(have you improved it , have you . . .
CIMR. SALPETER; Well I wouldn' t say, improved it as was said earlier ,
most of the time when the pot holes get very bad, it's the fraternity
I '
l
I
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19
boys who fix it but one summer, at least, it was my own mother-in-
law who took stones and filled the pot holes . In that sense we ha 'e
ij
` maintained it. We 've maintained it once or twice specially when i
was a winter vacation and a fraternity was closed - we had to hire ;
fa snow plow to plow it. We don't really understand how come the
( Village of Cayuga Heights is kind enough to us to plow it most of the
time , but somehow they don't always do it . I don't understand how
i
it comes about because I have never - I would never phone the Village
of Cayuga Heights and ask them to plow it since it surely . . .
MR. ANGELL: They plow out the entire length?
IMR. SALPETER: Usually I think when they have gone through the ent re
( length. I have never actually seen them but often we return and it�
}lis plowed and I know it ' s not the City of Ithaca.
`MR. WALSH: A neglect of some sort, how benign you haven' t decided,]
Tright?
i
CHAIRMAN WILCOX; Could I ask you, are you aware if there is any
young children living on this street?
i
MR. SALPETER: Not that I know of, I mean, we don't have any, and. . .
i
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Thank. you. Anyone else? Would you like to come `
i
forward please state your name. j
I
MR. ROBEY; My name is Bryant Robey, I live at 209 Wait Avenue and
, I am here representing the Cornell Civic Association of which I aml
the Chairman, I have a written statement which I 'd like to read for
' the record. You also have copies of it . The application concerning
1110 Westbourne Lane asks that you construe Westbourne Lane, a private
IIroad, to be a public right of way for zoning purposes . This is no
{' I
'la technicality. Zoning ordinances require that every dwelling hav
frontage on a right of way for good reasons , public safety can dep nd
on it, and it enables the City to control land use. Therefore, your
I
interpretation of this issue, we believe, should consider whether p
' Westbourne Lane is in fact the equivalent of a public road in term
of safety and land use. We contend that it cannot fairly be con
I
sidered a public right of way on either ground. Consider land use
first : The only buildings on Westbourne Lane that have no direct
i
access to a public street are two private homes, one owned by the
! i \
20
i
' Salpeters at 116 Westbourne Lane, and the other owned by the Whit-
! mans , at 110 . We understand that the Whitmans have received a pur,'
chase offer from an Ithaca landlord whose purpose is to convert
their residence to student housing. The property is not suited for
�Isuch a purpose. For one thing, according to Planning Department
!frecords and this came out of the last meeting of the Planning Boar.,
flit does not even meet the requirements of lot size for anything but
� a single family home in an R-U zone . If 110 Westbourne Lane were
;,!, to become a two-family home, however, which would allow six unrelated
11
people , or a multiple residence, which would mean no restrictions at
all on the number of occupants , that would leave the Salpeters as
I
�Ithe only single-family home on the lane. In time , they would have ;
l'ilittle choice but to sell their home to a landlord for use as student
; house or, I should add, other multiple use housing. Westbourne Large
would still be a private road, but someday there would be no private
! homes on it - an absurd situation. Clearly, the city would then be
obligated to assume responsibility for the lane, making it a city
i
street, widening it, and maintaining it . This would cost city resil-
dents a substantial sum of money for something they do not desire
Il and which is not in the best interest of preserving a residential
i
+jneighborhood. I 'd like to add, on this point that since members of
lour association have become familiar faces at these hearings in the
,! past, regarding Cornell Heights cases, we did not ask them to turn ]
Mout in force tonight because this is an interpretation and thought '
we would spare you five or six presentation. But I would like to
' assure you that it is hard to find any support in the neighborhood '
Ifor this change. For much the same reasons as we 've expressed in
other cases , there is one resident here, Peter Gierach, I don' t
11know if he plans to make a statement but I know that he opposes
lthis change, Second, consider the public safety criterion. West- i
i'
bourne Lane is narrow, more closely resembling a driveway than a
public street and I would dispute the contention that it is 25 feet
I
wide, made by Mr. Galbraith. It maybe that wide in some places bit
I believe Professor Salpeter indicated the difficulty, of vehicle
jpassage there. The city does not maintain it . Large trees grow
i
! - 21 -
�limmediately on either side, so there are no shoulders . It is not
! suited for traffic, and cars can pass each other only with diffi-
', culY• In sum j
t it does not have the characteristics of a
� public i,
Jlstreet. Moreover, the city is not authorized to issue parking tickets
i
�Ito vehicles that block the lane , nor can it order cars towed. Werej
! there to be a fire at either of the two homes on the lane , fire troicks
jcould not gain access if cars were blocking the road. Because the ',
i
Ilane is not plowed by the city in winter, access by emergency vehi-I
cles could be difficult. And I hope we can keep from Mayor Marchant
�, of Cayuga Heights the fact that Cayuga Heights is now plowing the
! lane because I don't think it' s sufficient or good public policy for
; the City of Ithaca to depend on another municipality to do something
i I
�lit cannot, by law, do itself. The city has zoning requirements in-
� volving street line footage for good reasons , and it is clear that !
(Westbourne Lane does not meet these requirements . It is a private
111ane and should be considered one for zoning purposes just as it is
�
i
! for all other purposes . There cannot be a double standard. This
( case, however, reveals a problem with the zoning ordinance. In the
I I
jicase of the two homes on Westbourne Lane, and possibly others in the
�jcity as well , the zoning ordinances technically do not permit any
but pre-existing uses, since the properties have no frontage on a
public street. This flaw should be corrected. But the solution
i
should not be to consider Westbourne Lane as a public right of way,;
thereby creating a result that submverts the intent of the zoning
! ordinance, but to amend the zoning ordinance itself so that private,
1
�iroads can be consi.dexed as public rights of way for zoning purposes
i
provided they meet certain tests designed to insure that they are,,
i'
lin fact, the equivalent of public streets . This is the responsi-
bility of the City Council , not of boards charged with interpretat ' on
of zoning law. Since Westbourne Lane is clearly not a public strut ,
lithe Cornell Heights Civic Association hopes that your board will
, interpret the zoning ordinance to mean that 110 Westbourne Lane mut
i
remain a single family dwelling unless a change in use is success- 1
fully sought be appeal . And I would like to add that if it is sought
i
1we will certainly be hereto oppose it.
i
f
r
- 22 -
( CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay, thank you. Any questions?
IMR. WALSH: Yes . Bryant , could you enlighten us as to what you con-
� sider to be the aspects of what it is that we should consider - youj
mentioned the access by public vehicles being with - as a criteria -
what are the things that you consider that make a right-of-way public?
+MR. ROBEY: Well , I think it 's a kind of test of reasonableness her'�e .
i
If you are considering - you have to consider the use, I believe , aid
if you were to see the lane you would recognize that it isn' t wide
enough. I think the egress and ingress by fire trucks I think is
crucial. The condition of the road itself whether it ' s plowed,
i
whether the police can issue tickets - I think these are not crucial
i
when you are dealing with two-family homes and the fact that no one;
else is going to (unintelligible) yet , it was in my testimony, that
every other residence is either - that multi-family - I believe there
is a unit in Cayuga Heights that ' s their problem but the ones that
are in Ithaca also face on Highland Avenue, I believe , so that a
fire - the fraternity in fact is on the corner, so that a fire truck
could reach these by a public road. It could not reach the Whitmanl' s
i
house or the Salpeter 's and that 's the kind of test that I mean - I
don' t really know - I think that' s up to people to consider but it
the road clearly does not resemble a public road either in width,
condition or city maintenance or use.
i
MR. WALSH: Assuming your point that it doesn't look like a public
road in the sense that it doesn' t look like any other normal street;
(maintained by the city but I 've always felt that a public right-of-1
way was one over which- the public might pass generally, including
as little as a footpath-
MR. ROBEY. I don' t dispute that at all . No that's - I think Dirk
( has read that part and I think you can't dispute that it 's a - that!,
the publiccango through it - I drove through it myself to look at it .
The point is we are considering use for purposes of zoning I think !
and very clearly it is not suited to a large volume of traffic and
I think it ' s likely if you are adding eight rooms, replacing one
person or two people with eight , you are creating a traffic a
potential traffic problem. Already there are cars parked in the
(dwelling on the corner.
i,
is
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- 23 -
! MR. WALSH: Is that a judgement that this Board should be properlyl
i
making , given that in its use the nature of this (unintelligible)
its one which is essentially public in the traditional sense even i�
isnot as defined by city codes and minimum requirements for access by
"iemergency vehicles. Do we now say that for this purpose its a
; different creature?
�i
SMR. ROBEY: No , I believe the burden of proof for a change is on tfie
'I I
applicant and that I can't really answer the question whether your
i
,IBoard should or shouldn't. I don't know. I feel that there is a
,iproblem with the Zoning Ordinance because if that - the question o
public use is construed so narrowly to mean that anybody from the
i
public can go through there, I think that - as I said in my state
!Iment , subverts the intent of the Zoning Ordinance and thereby cremes
I
an inequity and that ' s a matter I think for the people who write
'I
�! the Zoning Ordinance to grapple with.
i
!! MR. WALSH: Doesntt that suggest that we are dealing with it in th;
�1 wrong form?
I' MR. ROBEY: Well , that 's what I said in my statement. I believe
,Ithat ' s true, that ' s of course for your Board to decide. I think you
Ihave to consider it because it was brought before you but we see it
I
I,! as a fairly straight forward matter and one , obviously, that we
would like to see rejected. I would only say that if the Board
i
feels that it is a complicated legal question we do not have the
civic association attorney do legal research, although he certainly
I
consulted and we would like the opportunity if the case is so com
i
ylplicated that it can't be decided tonight.
�jMR. ANGELL: How many actually, how many, Bryant , of these resi
Idents - fraternities are in the city?
MR. ROBEY; Do you know exactly? (speaking to Mr , Salpeter)
i
i, MR, SALPETER: Itm not sure , I think. all except the rooming house
I! which used to be in Ithaca
I
! MR. ROBEY'; Pour out of the five. That was my impression, in
looking at the map, four out of five are in the city, And, as I
it
irepeat , of those only the two private residences also have access
�Ifrom Highland Avenue,
i
i I
- 24
I�
' CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Any other questions? Is there anyone else who
I
! would like to speak? Come forward please and give your name.
MRS. SALPETER: I 'm Miriam Salpeter, and I am the Whitman' s neighbojr.
jActually what I want to say, really has already been said and I
i
I
appreciate the need to be brief but I did want to point out one
I
thing that somehow I feel is being lost and that is that the ques-
tion about how many residents are on Westbourne Lane. I really be-1
I
lieve basically there are two because the Whitman' s residence and
I
Flour residence are the only landlocked residences in the street. We
Aare the only ones that have to be - who have only access to West-
bourne Lane and the fraternity and the two rooming houses actually
i
are - one on Wykoff and two on Highland, basically. So that because
f I
� we are a private residence and the Whitmans are , we, as my husband
i
said, have always sort of felt that this is a private street with
two private houses on it and I would be particularly disturbed if
I
know we were really just surrounded by rooming houses and multiple
dwellings . When we moved in I remember very particularly that Mrsd
lIWhitman who was at that time the parent of Mr. Whitman, now, who
!was still living then - came and said how happy she is that a private
I
, family has bought this house because when it was up for sale she wad
h
(very worried that the nature of this street would change if, for
i
some reason, there was a permission for a multiple dwelling and the;
I
two families houses had lived there side by side for many years and
I
we would hope that we could continue this as a private street in that
!sense.
t
CHAIRMAN WI'LCOX: Okay, thank you. Is there anyone else who would
i
(like to comment? Okay, we have a just give your name again
! I
Jim.
SMR. BUYOUCOS; I 'm James Buyoucos and I 'm up here speaking again.
i
I just want to say that this city assessment map shows the layout a;
I
little bit better. This is Salpeter, this is Whitman, this is the
property immediately to the right of it - that 's Whitman, yes (point-
ing) and I think this one may be owned by Delgado - I 'll strike tha�
bout - that 's the property that Mrs . Salpeter said is in such horrible
!condition and that , I think, is what Mr. Frye - Professor Frye re-
about t� conditio -
nof that buil-ding.-- �towever , this is
Iferred to .i. .
� i 1
i'
i'
I
i - 25 -
I;
�i
i
;MR. WALSH: Would that be referring to the north of number 1 marked
!{Salpeter on the map?
,MR. BUYOUCOS: Yes . That property north of Professor Salpeter is
i
owned, I believe, by Mr. Lower and if you look on this . . .
�!MR. ANGELL: And that is a rooming house?
IMR. BUYOUCOS: And that is a rooming house and if you will look or
this map you will see that a large portion of it is within the City .
'II don't know how much of it is in the Village of Cayuga Heights no
fdo I know where the building lies (unintelligible)
IMR. WALSH: Designated number 2 on the map furnished to us . . .
IMR. BUYOUCOS : And I believe - is that a fraternity house across t e
way Professor Salpeter? We are referring to the item marked 2 ,
t'
( Professor Salpeter.
Tau
MR. SALPETER: / Kappa Epsilon.
� MR. BUYOUCOS: I ' ll leave this as an exhibit with the Board of Ap-
,peals .
' CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay, thank you. Mr. Buyoucos , oh, you have more?
MR. WEAVER: Mr. Buyoucos , if you will just wait a minute we' ll just
look at the map for a while.
IMR. BUYOUCOS: Eine.
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: While we are waiting, Jim, are you representing
Professor Frey?
MR. BUYOUCOS: I 'm representing Professor Frey .
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Are you familiar with the letter he wrote to thei
Zoning Board?
MR. BUYOUCOS: I received a copy of it.
i
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Do you want this read verbally or just put in th
record?
MR. BUYOUCOS: You can put it in the record.
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: I mean, can we dispense with the reading of this .
MR. BUYOUCOS : Yes , just as long as you accept that.
CHAIRMAN WILCOX; It's in the record, yes . "As owner of the prope ty
at 150 Highland Avenue , within 200 feet of 110 Westbourne Lane , I
! strongly oppose the requested interpretation of zoning regulations
which would facilitate use of the referenced house for multiple
I�
ii
II
f
- 26 -
(dwelling units. I regret that I cannot appear in person, but I am
i
jcurrently in California on leave from my position as a Professor of
j
jElectrical Engineering at Cornell , and intend to return to my house
l
I'ion Highland Ave. in the fall . That house is in fact pleasant
I
( enough but has one drawback - - a multiple dwelling unit already next
i
to it on the corner of Highland and Westbourne Lane. There are timjes
1when the noise from that ill-maintained building, occupied only by
students or others of similar age, is offensive (both in quantity and
'iualit and at all times we are bothered b the slovenly appearance
q Y) � Y Y ',
hof the building and its surroundings, and by the trash that the room-
! ing-house inhabitants throw on the space between the rooming-house !
I1property and my own. History gives no reason to expect that the beha-
vior of the proposed multiple residents of 110 Westbourne Lane would
be any better, or that any non-resident landlord would maintain than
I
! house in a manner appropriate to what is largely a residential-fam-II
11ily neighborhood. The environment in which my own house exists can
1thus certainly be expected to be degraded, and its value both to md,
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; as a residence, and to any potential buyer, would be similarly de
graded, were the requested interpretation granted. Indeed in this
( case the total neighborhood degradation resulting from having two
rooming-house adjacent to each other might well be greater than
, twice of one rooming-house (which already exists) alone; certainly
f�
,, two students always seem to make more noise when together, than
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c when separated. The young family to which I am renting the house
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fat 150 Highland this year have pointed out that 110 Westbourne Lane
lHis within easy view of the rear deck of 150 Highland, and is vir-
i+
tuall adjacent to'j y ad j y rear garden. Granting the requested inter- ,
! pretation would clearly be an attack on the quality of the environ-+
I
ment in which I' live. One relies on the zoning laws for protection
I
; against such attacks , and I request that those laws be strictly
iinterpreted in this case. Yours sincerely /s/ Jeffrey Frey" Okay,
i' because he essentially says that he feels the neighborhood would b4
Idegraded by another multiple housing - essentially that is what he ,
ii says .
!' MR. BUYOUCOS: I 'm also going to speak in behalf of Professor Sal
( peter. About sixteen or seventeen years ago when he came to my
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office and asked me to represent him, we looked at Westbourne Lane !
dand he said "is this a public street" and I said "there is one th i g
Ii I 'm certain of - it is not a public street. " Let me just dispel fcr
gone moment that you can give any weight to Dirk' s assertion that the
( Village of Cayuga Heights plows this street. A taxpayer could bring
gone honey of an action against the Village of Cayuga Heights because
no Municipality has the right to plow a privately owned street - a�d
that is law. And no Municipality has the right to do any plowing of
Jany streets outside the boundaries and you have seen the city assess-
iment map. So, if you think that a street burdened by multiple resi{-
I
; dents for the first time in many, many, many years and probably for
the first time in the history of this house, will somehow or other
;! have all the benefits of public maintenance for the street , I thinl
you can be mistaken - I think the Village of Cayuga Heights indeed ',
could be forced to withdraw the plowing of that street and I thinki
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'iI would argue that a long way as a matter of law. Now I know what '
;
Dirk Galbraith said about the deed to the Whitmans and I 'm sure he
read it correctly. But that' s like lifting yourself by the bootstraps ,
� If I wanted to make that a public street and I represented the buyer,
I would say to the seller, put in this phrase "used as a public
street" , it won' t do you any harm and he put it in but that wasn' t
!! the case when the Salpeter' s bought . Because when the Salpeter's
I bought , their deed said ''together with all rights , rights-of-way aid
! benefits appertinent to the above premises as set forth and/or
Ilreferred to in the deed from Leonara B. Thurston to John T. Parson '
; and that was a long , long time ago about the time that the Spanialyds
! sunk the battleship Maine around 1900 or so. And including , without
! limitation the right to use Westbourne Lane as a street, it didn't
!' say as a public street, it said as a street. And there was a
1phrase added also "together with- all right title and interest of the
;! grantor , people who sold, in and to Westbourne Lane , " So I went
f� I
back to that ancient deed which was 1906 from Lenora Thurston to
!' John T. Parson which covered the larger parcel of land. And here is
what that deed said; "The party of the first part also gives to the
! party of the second part the right to complete and construct not a ,
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i�public street but a driveway or drive - let me repeat that - a
�1driveway or driveways as contained in the deed of the said Cornell
4
Heights land company and as shown on the 1904 map of the Cornell
�jHeights section. I went and looked at that map and there are many,
{j
Imany streets named but there is one strip of land that is unnamed
and that is Westbourne Lane so in 1904 it was not deemed to be a
�Ipublic street and when I represented the Salpeters I called the Cit
of Ithaca and they said "No sir, that is not a public street" and j
pretty soon we will speak about what are some of the characterics o
�a public street. Now I take the position which I took when this
Board was considering the application of Cornell University to con-
vert a couple of residences to other purposes, so called educational
, purposes and my position at that time was that Cornell didn' t show
any hardship but the important central issue was that this Board
had no jurisdiction to interpret the zoning ordinance to determine
whether or not a use was educational or whether Cornell could indee
use these houses. That it seemed to me so clear - was a matter forj
the courts . I think this is equally a matter for the courts because
the powers which are granted to the Board of Appeals to review or
, interpret provisions of the Zoning Ordinance are directed in general
I
towards administrative proceedings - administrative proceedings , s all
details . People who started framing zoning ordinances back in the
first decade knew that there would be a lot of minute little nitty
igritty things which they could not cover completely so they did no
want that kind of erosion of public confidence in their zoning law and
so they said that the Board of Appeals and that appears right in the
icity law - the Board of Appeals could be given the power to interpret
fiprovisions of the Zoning Ordinance. But what provisions? In general
, consider the examples given in the Zoning Ordinance of the City of
Ithaca, I' believe. The determination of the exact location of any
district boundary if there was any uncertainty, because you look a
your zoning map and how can you tell where district A ends and dis-
trict B begins . Fair game for interpretation. A Zoning Ordinance
prohibits a building more than two stories in height. Does a base
Iment constitute a story where part of it is exposed? A building m y
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not exceed 40 feet in height from ground level . What is ground
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level? Those are the types of issues which the Board of Appeals
j should interpret. Not important issues . Those issues are to be
'! interpreted by the Court . Now, if you want authority for this ,
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I! Anderson, in Section 12 . 02 of Volume 1 , reviews the history quite
clearly on what the interpretation of the Zoning Ordinance means .!
And he says that these were primarily administrative interpretations
which were required. Now, on this matter of the public right of way,
I
as I said, I don't think you can give any weight to the fact that
the party of the first part and the deed referred to it as a public
street. I could refer to it as a public street - that doesn't make
it a public street. The cases to which Mr. Galbraith referred to
and quite properly he said they were cases that involved the
vehicle and traffic law. What is a public highway for the purpose'
f
l of suing somebody, or arresting somebody because they didn't oper-
I)
ate their automobile properly on a public highway. But it is
ii interesting that even there, courts have different _ and that is
jone reason as I will allude to later, why I believe that you can' t'.
this Board cannot interpret that where cases have gone awry.
For example , one of the cases which I will give you a copy, is Weeks
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j! vs . Burns and that is in 33 NY Supp. 2nd at 65 . The question was
jJ{1
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whether or not a person was operating a road on a public road when,
� that person was operating on - in front of an A $ P store . The
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Court said, it appears that the ultimate test is the right to un-
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restricted use by the public except for usual police regulations .
Except for usual police regulations. Now, nothing has been intro
II duced into evidence this evening indicating that the public has and
unrestricted right to use it . Some people do use it but let me
w
li point out a few things . The public right to use the street means
that that street is going to be maintained. The neighbors can say,,
which adjunct - the neighbors of a property which abut on a
�I public street can say, that the public has the right to have that
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street maintained. The city can not maintain Westbourne Lane
they are forbidden to do sot because it is not a public street .
No one can go in there representing the city and put in water mains ,
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ii sewer mains , dig up that road and put in water mains , sewer mains , ,
drainage pipe , storm sewers - without getting an easement from the;
!j neighbors . They do not have the - the public does not have the
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unrestricted right to use the street in that respect. If somehow !,
or other there is going to be a question of detouring cars from
going north on Highland Avenue, I don' t believe, and there would
be a serious argument in court to be decided by the Supreme Court
in the first instance, I don't believe that you could flow all
that traffic through Westbourne Lane . I think the neighbors could!
get up and tell the city "wait a minute this is not a public
street you've told us so - don't send your cars through here ."
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And I don' t think the city would dare send all those cars to a
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street which it hasn't maintained because consider the obvious
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,I consequences.
MR. WALSH: Do you seriously think that where the street has been
open for at least twenty-one years to access that the neighbors
f
could just shut off that access?
MR. BUYOUCOS: The question is not whether or not they can shut
off the access, The question is whether or not it is a public
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right-of-way. I don' t know what that word public right-of-way
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means.
MR. WALSH: We were hopeing you iould help us with that .
(� MR. BUYOUCOS: Well , alright, I have.
MR. ANGELL: Can you shut off that access - (unintelligible)
agreement among themselves?
MR, WALSH: What are the things that you consider characterize a
public right-of=way? I think the question of this Board' s power
�I to interpret the Ordinance is beyond the scope of the proceedings
this evening. We've assumed that in the past and I think we' ll
probably consider this. as similar in the future but in terms of
interpreting that, what are the things that we should fix on as
the test of what comprises a public right-of-way? Is it merely
the question of public maintenance or is it the question of the
width of the street or is it the Question of whether the neighbors
may shut off access to it or is it the question of whether it is
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;+ plowed or is it the question of whether the police may come in and ';
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ticket on it, is it in fact any one of these things or a conjury
�j of them - what are the . . .
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MR. BUYOUCOS: A fair question. A fair question. Unfortunately,
first the Zoning Ordinance is silent on it . Secondly the cases
directly in point are characterized by their absence but we start j
going down - could any neighbor - any abutting property owner shut
off Westbourne Lane to prevent - to prevent any other person on
that street from using it? An unequivocal no. Now let' s assume .
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Could I interrupt you just a minute Jim? Do you -
I 'd like to know, do you want to give testimony in favor of the
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argument that we should not take up this matter or do you want to
f give testimony against or for deciding whether it is a city street )
because first you said you didn' t think we should decide the issue ;
and now you are giving testimony on the issue.
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MR. BUYOUCOS: No , I 'm just putting it in the framework. My posi- I
tion is that you do not have the jurisdiction to decide this ques-
tion. That;s my position.
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CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay. Now if you would like to have testimony
supporting that I think that is probably what . . .
MR, BUYOUCOS: If you will tell me what you are going to decide
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tonight I 'll be glad to answer the question, But you know perfect�y
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well I have to bring in the other.
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Well I think we got the picture. j
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MR, BUYOUCOS: Okay, fine.
CHAIRMAN WIL;COX: We know how you feel about the -- and some good
arguments too. I 'd like to keep it brief though.
MR. BUYOUCOS: Okay, fine, thank you. If we can. I am very em-
barrassed but you start these meetings so late. Now, to answer
Mr. Walsh.
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: For example , what about sidewalks, I 'm curious ,
do you know about that?
MR. BUYOUCOS: No .
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Nobody has been required to put in or maintain
a sidewalk?
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MR. BUYOUCOS: No one has been required to put in or maintain a
sidewalk and they can' t be forced to do that. Now, to answer the
question further, I believe that if the neighbors or the property
H owners got together and somehow worked out a different ingress and
P
egress - not through Westbourne Lane but say, cutting across one
of the other properties and they said this is what we are going to
use to get either on Highland or Wykoff and they close Westbourne
i� Lane, who was going to complain? Who would have a right to com-
plain? Not me wanting to take a short cut from Highland Road down]
t
i to Overlook because I have a public street ready for me to use. I
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Ij think that ' s an exceedingly important argument.
�# MR. ANGELL: Jim, may I ask - is it one of the criteria for main
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j4 taining a lane or something from becoming a public right-of-way
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that you have to shut it off once a year for twenty-four hours?
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MR. BUYOUCOS: One of the criteria for preventing somebody else
from getting a right in a private road which he claims under a clam
of right he must have some sort of a claim of right, then you
have to interrupt that claim once every twenty years and then it
1 became once every fifteen years, now its one every ten years . Youi
I' have to interrupt that persons right to use but he just can't walk
in and use it , he has to have some sort of a claim and I say there;
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is no claim here. And I think that ' s the doctrine of adverse
possession.
j MR. ANGELL: You mean a person who has been in the habit of using
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this lane as a means of transportation to and from his home, say
it was wherever it happens to be - he has no right then to use
that if these people want to shut it off?
�) MR. BUYOUCOS: You'd have to show even in a statute or a case where
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he does have the right.
MR. ANGELL: Even though they haven' t maintained it as private by
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shutting it off periodically?
� MR. BUYOUCOS: If it is one of the mistaken notions that somebody )
j
gains a right to cross my back yard just be doing it all the time 1�he has to have some interest ., that right-of-way that he is exer
II cising must be appurtenant to something. It can't float up in the'!
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Hair. If I 'm driving north on Highland Road I can drive north on
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Il Highland Road and turn west on Wyckoff and go down to Overlook. I ''i
!1do not have to use this road. Nor do I get any rights by using it.
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J! That's our position but I think that is only one small part of the ;
flargument when you consider all the others . Now I think I 'm just
! about . . .
f'
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Alright , to summarize, you are making two argu-
1iments : One, you don't think that we should be interpreting this
(! Zoning Ordinance.
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SMR. BUYOUCOS: Most strongly I don' t.
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: And secondly, if we do, you are giving your best ;
evidence and testimony as to why we should interpret it one way or
I the other.
IIl MR. BUYOUCOS: Yes .
f
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay. Could you sum that up please?
i
MR. BUYOUCOS: Well , you summed it up so well for me that I concurs
, in what you said.
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay, thank you. I should go to law school .
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MR. BUYOUCOS : I hope you don' t.
I
�ICHAIRMAN WILCOX: Very interesting.
�E
! MR. BUYOUCOS : Now, the other case that T would submit to you is
Zielinski vs Lyford and that is in 175 Misc. 517 , which raised a
} point raised by another member of the Board which said that a public
! drive can be a public drive but not a public drive for every pur-
pose. And this is where I want to finish my argument . When the
! Zoning Ordinance was drafted they could have said that any frontage,
Ion any street, driveway, alleyway, whether public or private -- but
jlthey used the word public and there is good reason for using the
I,
' word public and Mr. Robey and Professor Salpeter have indicated
Itonight you just don' t have lar e use of
g properties on a street
'! that isn't a public street, publically maintained. So the council ;
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could have used the word and written the Zoning Law in such a way
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'! so they, said "on any street whether or not public or private ," i
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They didn't do it . If anything is to be done then I think it is u�
11to the Common Council to amend its law and I think that is the
I
�Iposition which must be taken tonight but if somehow or other you
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felt no, we are not going to say that then I 'd think on the contro
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dversial question such as what constitutes a public highway, then I
( think we should have a decision of a court, a Supreme Court which
would at least start us toward some uniformity because if you say
it is , how do we know that the Town of Ithaca is going to go alongi
with you - let me put it in even a worse situation - the Town of
i
�iIthaca advised by their attorney might say that' s a public street
i
land you wouldn' t necessarily have to believe that at all .
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: So as far as you know . . .
MR. WALSH: Do you have copies of those cases : Zelinski and Weeks . .!. ?
I
MR. BUYOUCOS : You want copies of them? I will get some for you. j
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Any questions?
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CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Any other questions? If anybody would like to
answer the two summary arguments as to whether the Board should,.
decide this issue at all and if so - if it does . . .
IMR. BUYOUCOS: Excuse me Mr. Chairman, there is something else that
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I have to put on the record. I 'm sorry. There is a section in thei
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city law Section 36 which is entitled "Municipal Improvements inl
I
Streets , Buildings, not on mapped streets". It was very interesting
lto read this. No permit for the erection of any building shall bei
issued unless a street or highway giving access to such proposed
I
structure has been duly placed on the official map or plan which
street or highway shall have been suitably improved to the satis-
faction of the planning Board in accordance with. standards and sped-
fications approved by the appropriate departments as adequate in
respect to the public health, safety and general welfare - for thej
I
( special circumstances of the particular street or highway for a bond
as given and so on. Now I know that this isn't for the erection 04
i
a new building but the basic argument - the philosophy as to why i
i
was necessary to put Section 36 in the city law is there and I wani
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Ito make that as a matter of record and I will also give you a pho�o
copy of that for your deliberations .
CHAIRMAN WILCOX Thank you Mr. Buyoucos . Now if anybody wants toll
4address, those two arguments as to whether the Board should conside�
this or make testimony as to which way we should decide if we
consider it , I will entertain those . However they will be brief
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!land they will be new information only.
IIMR. GALBRAITH: My name is Dirk Galbraith, speaking in rebuttal to
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JIMr. Buyoucos 's testimony. In the first place as I read the City of
.i
!, Ithaca Zoning Ordinance and the enabling legislation to which it
j
Iwas enacted, this Board does have the power to interpret the Zoning
i,
( Ordinance. As a practical matter I don' t think a property owner
jjsuch as Mr. Whitman should be forced in the first instance to bring
Ian action for a proceeding in the Supreme Court to determine what
I
1the Zoning Ordinance means . I think that is within the providence )
,, of this Board. Secondly, I was interested in Mr. Buyoucos ' s history
i I
i( of Westbourne Lane. I call the Board' s attention to the fact that !
,I
indeed the Salpeters deed seems to refer to Westbourne Lane as a
i
street and if Westbourne Lane had a private character in 1904 I
I
would suggest that the evidence before the Board is that it has
lobtained a public character since then and that as Mr. Buyoucos
Iiindicated, no property owner in that area could legitimately close ]
I'
I� it off to the public and therefore I reiterate my feeling that I
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(' believe it fulfills every aspect of a public right-of-way. Thank
YOU.
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay, thank you Mr. Galbraith. Anyone else? Nevi
information only. Yes sir.
I
�IMR. BUYOUCOS: Mr. Chairman, just a minute please ,
iI
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: I have called a person from the audience, Jim -
�Ijust a second. You' ll be able to answer. I 'd like to have this
i�
gentleman come up here. Please state your name and address and
I
1Ikeep it brief and new information only please.
�IMR. GIERASCH; My name is Peter Gierasch, 208 Wait Avenue and I hope
i
; this qualifies as new information. The fact is there are a very
I{ large number of people in the neighborhood who, if they had though!
�Ithis was going to be the last hearing on this matter would have been
I
11here tonight. We thought it was purely a technical issue. We
11didn't realize that a variance wasn't required after this decision ''
and those people view the major issue as a change in character of
the neighborhood because of the creation of one more multi--family
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unit instead of a single-family unit,
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f CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Well , let me ask you a question - as a matter of
(! course, when we do determine whether we have the right to decide
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,Ion something , then generally, then an appeal is necessary later.
ii
k In other words if we were to determine that the variance is require
l! then they would have to get a variance - they would have to come
jto another meeting,
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! MR. GIERASCH: Oh, but I though I understood that a variance might '
i
not be required.
jiCHAIRMAN WILCOX: That 's what I said - if we determine that a vari ,,
ijance is required then they will have to get a variance. The ques
i
tion put in by the applicant is to interpret whether we - to inter,,
� pret our definition of a private road the lane .
IMR. GI'ERASCH: My - I hope my new information is just that . . .
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ii SECRETARY HOARD: If the Board's interpretation is that the West-
Ei
' bourne Lane satisfies the requirements fo a public right-of-way then
; they would not need to come back.
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( CHAIRMAN WILCOX,, Or if the Board determined that it is a matter for
} the Courts or the attorneys , then that would have to be decided
i
; first and then if a variance is required then we would have to hear
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'j it again.
' MR. GI'ERASCH: Okay, but If the neighborhood had thought thi$
I
( was the real decision point , then I am saying you would have had
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a very large crowd here so I hope I speak for them.
CHAIRMAN WILCOX; Okay. Mr. Buyoucos do you have
,i
iIMR. BUYOUCOS; Irm James Buyoucos I' just merely want to correct
lone item for the record. What I said was that no one property own$r
could keep other property- owners abutting on Westbourne Lane from
,
fusing Westbourne Lane. I did not say that those property owners
,
�!
jcould not keep the public from doing so .
I
(' CHAIRMAN WILCOX Thank you sir. Board members, any other questions
�Ir do you want to recall anybody?
11MR, WEAVER: A matter of clarification. Has it clearly been estab-
i
i( lished the dimension of this lot , particularly as '(unintelligible)
lllknown as Westbourne Lane?
I
( SECRETARY HOARD: One of the maps the more recent assessorts map :
shows 127 feet frontage. The old map showed less than that .
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37 -
�1HAIRMAN WILCOX: What about the question of total square feet ,
i
hough, is that what you are addressing?
i
ECRETARY HOARD: Well then the wider frontage is somewhere around
7 , 000 square feet . 17 , 550 .
I
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HAIRMAN WILCOX: And required is 16, 500?
ECRETARY HOARD: Right. For a multiple dwelling. j
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CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Do you know if that is an accurate figure - this
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ays estimate here.
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1 ECRETARY HOARD: Well estimate because it is an irregular . . .
HAIRMAN WILCOX: Yes , so you are satisfied -- the Building Depart-
ment is satisfied?
SECRETARY HOARD: If that is if this map is right .
MR. ROBEY: Just a point of clarification. Does that mean that the
Planning Board's testimony at the last meeting Jon Meigs testified
that it didn' t have the adequate lot size. You are now saying
that' s an error?
i
SECRETARY HOARD: I, don't know what figure they were using whether
they were using the minimum figure for a multiple dwelling or the
minimum figure for a group house.
MR. ROBEY: Bryant Robey, 209 Wait Avenue . I was present at last
weeks hearing before the Planning Board and I recall directly that
Jon Meigs, City Assistant - City Planner the department map, whic
I' presumed was up to date - showed that it did not have the minimuml
lot size for anything but a single family dwelling, Based in part
on that, T think we the Association - believed that an appeal
would be necessary anyway. No, my understanding, Tom, from what you
say is that there is more recent information than that. That is what
I am mystified about,
SECRETARY HOARD: Well the information that I gave to Mr. Meigs
showed this figure that I just gave the 17 ,700 - and I don't kno
what map he was using,
� MR, ROBEY: Iwould just ask that this Board consider the testimony
of the Planning Board - they decided not to rule on the case but
Ineve.rtheless there was testimony and Jon Meigs testimony was the
central part of that.
( CHAIRMAN WILCOX: To summarize this - the appellant has asked for
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Han interpretation and also the Planning Department felt that there
!should be an interpretation. They felt by the City Attorney - but
Ilit doesn't matter, they still thought there should be an interpre-
tation. And that passed S - 0 . But they didn't say yes or no.
�10kay? Anyone else for this case? We' ll go on to the next case.
1
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e
BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS j
li COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS
CITY OF ITHACA NEW YORK I
li MAY 4 , 1981
,i
i�
j EXECUTIVE SESSION
ii
IIAPPEAL NO. 1361 :
, The Board considered the request for an interpretation of Section j
130. 25 of the Municipal Housing Code to permit the use of the properi,ty
i
at 110 Westbourne Lane for a multiple dwelling. The property is
located in an R-U use district but does not have frontage on a
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public right-of-way as required by the District Regulations . The
jdecision of the Board was as follows:
i
i MR. WEAVER: This Board has ruled that to qualify as a public
j
Ij right-of-way within the meaning of the Ordinance
�I
it must be a city street, state highway or other j
1
thoroughfare owned and maintained by a public j
11 authority.
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CHAIRMAN WILCOX: I second the motion.
VOTE: 4 Yes ; 1 No ; 1 Absent Carried.
FINDINGS OF FACT:
1) The Ithaca City Zoning Ordinance lacks a definition of public
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j right-of-way.
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, 2) The Ordinance requirement that a multiple residence unit have
a minimum frontage on a pujb.lic right-of-way is designated to
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assure (a) unhindered access by members of the public at large
(b) the access and control by public safety and sanitary ser-
vices
1 vices and (c) a minimum standard of maintenance.
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3) Those purposes can only be assured where the right-of-way is a !
!'{ public street in fact and a definition of a public right-of-wa
as a public street lends itself to ease of administrative
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application,
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BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
i COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS
CITY OF ITHACA NEW YORK
MAY 4, 1981
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( SECRETARY HOARD: The next case is 1362 :
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Appeal of Charles Fritschler for an area
variance under Section 30 . 25, Columns 6 ,
112 and 13 (minimum lot size , and minimum
set backs for front yard and one side
yard) and an interpretation of Section 30. 3
Paragraph A-1 (requirement for continued
availability of off-street parking) , to
permit the continued use of the property
at 801 East State Street for a multiple
dwelling. The property is deficient in
I� minimum required lot size, and required
front and rear yard set back. The property
had been converted to a multiple dwelling++
by a previous owner in violation of zoninlg,
building and housing code requirements .
Earlier appeals were denied by the Board on
August 4 , 1980 and February 2 , 1981 . The'
owner is submitting a new appeal claiming
that he can provide the continued avail-
ability of off-street parking on adjacent]
property. !
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay, before anyone comes up on this case - I will
remind you this is a rehearing, it ' s limited to new evidence only.
Okay, is there someone here to speak on behalf of this variance
please? i
MR. STOLP: My name is Robert Stolp, I 'm an attorney with offices aIt
the Clinton House. I appear for Mr. Fritschler. At the last heariing,
although I didn' t appear at the first hearing. I have some letters
Ithat I would like to submit to the Board and marked into evidence.
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I am not going to read them. They are from adjacent landowners in '
regards to their consent . I don' t think there is any question that
East State Street is a public thoroughfare. I have with me a signed
lease and a receipt from the Ithacare Center will you mark these
also? Indicating that they have rented to Mr. Fritschler ten - I
think five parking spaces which I believe satisfies the requirement
as far as parking. I have no comments on the other except that th
deficiency -- I can't change that the deficiency is one foot in t e
I1front , two feet on one side, I think the Planning Board agenda sai '
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that there was a rear yard deficiency that isn't true. The rear !I
yard complies and the lot is still deficient in the total square
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footage by approximately 1250 feet. The garage that was on the prolp-
lerty has been since removed - I have a picture showing the garage I
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- 41 -
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!' removed - the garage in the picture belongs to the adjacent land
;' owner. You may note that the lease is just for a year but the last
; time we were here we had a cost estimate to have a parking lot in- !
! stalled in the back which Mr. Fritschler still intends to do but
, we though perhaps it might be a little more better considered by t$e
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( Board if we fulfilled the parking obligation at this time .
I� CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay.
SECRETARY HOARD: Mr. Stolp, when you handed these letters to us
Oand you said you weren't going to read them, are you waiving the
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Treading of them?
SMR. STOLP: I 'm waiving the reading of them - the Board will consit
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1� der them though.
SECRETARY HOARD: So long as they are putting - I have several othors
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11you might like to look at to see if you - they are all quite long. !
,! MR. WALSH: Mr. Chairman, in the interest of brevity, I would move!
that all the letters received on this matter be considered read ana
lbe spread on the record as if they had been.
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CHAIRMAN WILCOX: If that ' s okay with the attorney . . .
ii MR. STOLP: If I might look at the letters briefly. If there are
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Ijno questions or if anyone else wishes to speak perhaps I could loop
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at these letters while . . .
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iMR. WALSH: What are our deficiencies on front and side yard set back?
iMR. STOLP: My understanding - on the front yard it ' s one foot - I
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i� think the Board had a map that was presented in evidence last time ,
I! - here is a copy but I think I left the original here
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! (discussion took place which was unintelligible)
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MR. STOLP: The total lot is deficient - the total footage by
!I 1, 250 feet. I think the code requires 7 ,000 square feet and we have
approximately 6, 000 .
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay, any questions?
MR. WALSH: Bob, do you have copies of the leases?
MR. STOLP: We have a copy and the original receipt showing that the
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f! rent has been paid for a year, I believe.
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!i CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Alright, this
g , parking is for what period of time;?
MR. STOLP: Itts for a year. It can be renewed in a year. The
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reason that we didn't get a longer period of time is that Mr.
Fritschler intends to convert the back yard into a parking area.
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That issue was presented to the Board last time and there was some `
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! question about his ability to do it. So I feel we have fulfilled
.; the parking requirement for at least a year at which point in time ]
' the back yard parking should be made available.
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' CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Any questions? j
IMR. WALSH: Bob, do you read this lease to resuppose renewal on th
` same terms for (unintelligible) parking?
i� MR. STOLP: No, I believe the lease says to be on terms to be re-
negotiated - one year from the execution thereof. I don't believe !
that it will be a necessity to renew the lease because by that time ,
( hopefully, he will have parking on the property itself.
!! CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Are you aware that the parking is in a B-1 zone
(! which does not permit parking for private uses?
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� MR. STOLP: No , I 'm not. We rented it from Ithacare and we have a '
signed lease.
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CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Did you hear that Morrie?
MR. ANGELL: No.
i. CHAIRMAN WILCOX: The parking is in a b-1 area which does not permit
( parking for private purposes.
� MR. STOLP: I believe it was the only parking available to Mr.
IFritschler that would meet the requirements of the Board as far as '
( parking for his property is concerned.
MR. ANGELL: How can it meet the requirements if it is in a zone
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ii that . . .
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� MR. STOLP : I believe probably that the lessor is in violation of
the Zoning Ordinance, not the lessee.
! CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Any other questions of this witness? Thank you
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( Bob. Is there anyone else who would like to speak in favor of thil
; application? Is there anyone here who would like to,;speak in oppo$-
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lition to this application? Yes ma' am. Please state your name and ;
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1 address.
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TMS. HANKINSON; Itm Hilda Hank.inson, 707 E. State Street. This place
has been a mess ever since we 've lived there. We 've lived there for
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�Ithirty years and Professor Rainier lived there for years - alone - i
and I 'm sure it was a mess inside. I don' t think anything was eve
done to it with the new owners , I couldn' t see anything and one of
the neighbors told me several years ago that they had one bath for ;
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all of three floors and as far as the parking down at Ithaca Colle�e
- Ithaca College is down here and his property is up here (pointinj
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to map) and there is a real steep bank and I doubt very much if
these students would walk a whole block and a half, down Quarry
Street - to get to the parking lot. I 'm afraid they might park on
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the walk or in the driveway which a lot of them are already doing.
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay, thank you. Is there anyone else with new
information?
MR. ANGELL: Tom, what is the distance parking should be from a . .
SECRETARY HOARD: It has to be within 500' in a direct line and
1 , 000 feet walking . `
MR. ANGELL: Accessible direct line?
SECRETARY HOARD: Pio, just a direct line . �
MR. ANGELL: Direct lime. .
SECRETARY HOARD: But 1 ,000 feet by walking.
MR. STOLP: If I could reply to that . . .
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CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Just mention your name again on the tape, Bob.
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, MR. STOLP: Bob Stolp again, I 'd like to reply to that again. I
measured it myself personally today three times. From the propert*
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line to the parking lot with a tape measure and the highest distan e
I got, walking-wise, was 800 feet and the property on which the
parking is situated is adjacent to the subject property although i
isn't accessible. That' s why the walking situation. I 'd like the e
introduced too - it shows the outside of the house - perhaps in a
better state of repair than the last speaker indicated. Here are
your letters back, thank. you.
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: This is before the turn on Mitchell Street?
SECRETARY HOARD: It ' s the blue house across from Eddy Street.
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay, thank you. Quarry is down - the parking i
at the end of Quarry. Is there anyone else who would like to spea
against this variance?
MS. HANKINSON: I forgot something.
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44 -
ICHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay, could you come forward please? State your
ilname again.
t
n
HANKINSON: I 'm Hilda Hankinson again. The walk in front of
ithat house - I have been calling for three years about it. The resit
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Iflof us have had to put in new walks but they've done nothing with
ithat walk.
IICHAIRMAN WILCOX: o Okay, thank you. Okay Board, any other questions
(IDo you want to call anyone back? We ' ll go to the next case please .;
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!I BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS j
COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS
f CITY OF ITHACA NEW YORK
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MAY 4, 1981
!j EXECUTIVE SESSION
APPEAL NO. 1362 :
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1The Board considered the appeal for an area variance and an inter-
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pretation to permit the continued use of the property at 801 East
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( State Street for a multiple dwelling. The property is deficient
, in minimum required lot size, and required front and rear yard set
back. The property had been converted to a multiple dwelling by al
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11previous owner in violation of zoning , building and housing code
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requirements. The decision of the Board was as follows :
iMS . HAINE : I move that the Board deny the area variance requested
in appeal number 1362 . The new proposal concerning off-
�! street parking is inadequate to meet requirements of the
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Code.
' MR. WEAVER: I second the motion.
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(NOTE: 5 Yes ; 0 No ; 1 Absent Denied. j
,FINDINGS OF FACT:
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ill) The area indicated cannot be legally used for such purposes
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�12) The arrangement does not provide securely for parking for more
I� than ninety (90) days.
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- 46
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! BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS
CITY OF ITHACA NEW YORK
�j MAY 4 , 1981
I I �
i SECRETARY HOARD: The next appeal is appeal number 1363 : j
C Appeal of Anthony J. Albanese for a use
variance under Section 30. 25, Column 2 and
an area variance under Section 30 . 25 ,
Column 11 to permit the enlargement of j
the Clever Hans Bakery of Ithaca, Inc. in
the building at 201 Dey Street, and an
outdoor cafe in front of the building.
The property is located in an R-2b use
district. The bakery is operating under
an existing use variance and the outdoor
cafe would be in a required front yard.
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay, is there someone here to speak in favor ofI
this application?
MR. ALBANESE: I 'm Anthony Albanese, I own the building which is the
Calendar Clock factory building and Clever Hans Bakery want to
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lextend their - or expand their business and one part of it is be-
Itween my office and their existing bakery which includes about 5001
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square feet. The other portion is they would like to build a litt e
open air cafe which has been hassled around for about two years
and its finally met my approval and we 've taken it to the Planning
Board and we 've had considerable amount of talk about it and we al
agree that it would be a nice looking thing. I don't have an up t
date drawing on it.. Does Mr. Hoard have that? - Does Commissioner
Hoard have that?
SECRETARY HOARD: No I don't.
E
MR. ALBANESE: We have - what it consists of is a metal frame with a
canvas canopy and it would be approximately 40 foot wide and this
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is on the Adams Street side. It would be approximately ten_foot
from the building out which would bring it out to within a foot
of the inside of th-e walk. They are planning to put shrubbery
between in that area between the sidewalk and the canopy and
they want to put some chairs and tables out there something I
would almost consider to be - might be temporary. If it goes,
fine, but it will not effect the building and we 've had this for
about two years - been talking about it and we think its going
to improve the looks of the building - the whole area.
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47 - I
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: No sketchs or anything?
I' MR. ALBANESE: JOn Meigs had them last - I thought we had - we
a;
have an old one - we have one here that isn't exacly - it's been
,, updated since. This is one of the owners of Clever Hans - this
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flis Michael Parkhurst.
jCHAIRMAN WILCOX: Do you want to state your name again Mike, please?
! MR. PARKHURST. Hi. Michael Parkhurst from Clever Hans Bakery.
Vicki Romanoff did a drawing of the face of the building showing
basically this same idea (showing a blueprint which he submitted
for the file) . This shows a cafe with vaulted roof line - vaulted '
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awning but we decided it would probably be more in keeping with the
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architectural design of the building to have a straight line across
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! the front rather than the arch as you see there. This would be a
�1pipe frame - it would be affixed to the face of the building by
1cleets or some non-permanent way of affixing it to the face of thej
; building so in wintertime it could be taken down. The only thing
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that remains would be shrubbery and we were planning on quarry the
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a hard washable surface that could be used for installing or not '
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installing but having a place to put some tables and chairs.
IMR. WALSH: Mike , what is the depth of the area that you envision
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I extending from the face of the building toward the street?
J MR. PARKHURST: From the face of the building we would be covering ,
{' about a ten foot area.
MR. WALSH: You are talking about the area on the south facing the
Iibuilding roughly ten foot out from the face of the building, forty )
feet long?
IMR. PARKHURST; Right. That would leave about two feet between that
�1paved area and the sidewalk.
MR. WALSH: And this is all extending to the west of the . . .
IMR. PARKHURST: Right. From the main entrance . . . also, one thing',
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Ithis drawing does not show that the other one would have and
�fJonathan Meigs does have the drawing, is a raMpway for the handi-
capped - that would be to the right of the entrance. It would be
I1built at the same time.
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MR. WALSH: I was confused about the reference in the application
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! - 48 -
to space for additional display production space and a meeting room.
This is essentially a real location of space within the existing
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building?
R. PARKHURST: Yes . Okay. Well , these are actually two separate
` projects that we are talking about, they are all under this one
! appeal. It shows the exterior change that would be made in the
building . The interior changes , of course, you wouldn't see from
the outside. Landmarks Preservation, of course, is most interested,
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in the exterior of the building and, of course, that building is
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kept in good condition otherwise . So I have a drawing here that
does show what our plans are for the interior changes . Now this is
the bakery area - everyhting that you see from the left of the
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yellow line is the existing bakery - all retail and all production
that' s the way it is now. What we would like to do is move over - !
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jgain about another 151 for production pruposes to accommodate the
.actual production necessary for the place on the Ithaca Commons .
�GYe ' d like to open - in fact we have signed a lease for it. It
ill be a real headache if we can't get this additional space be-
cause we are sure that the demand is going to tax our ability to
roduce.
kR. ALBANESE : If T could explain it on this T this is the front
f the building here - this faces Adams Street and the park, okay,
here is no ( unintell . ) and they presently rent from around 4e
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corner this is Dey Street on this side - Adams is on the front -
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and they presently rent up to this doorway - here now. Their addi- I
ional space would bring it over to about another window - about I
another 20 foot back.. My office is right here. Now I am really
relinquishing a spot that I had reserved for show room but I found
hat I don' t need one.
R. WALSH: So the additional rental space is space to the
R. ALBANESE: That is all inside.
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R. PARKHURST: As, you face the building and you see our red door
here, this would be space to the right of that door.
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R. ALBANESE: And straight in.
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R. PARKHURST: Right, and straight in.
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11 - 49 -
'NIR. WALSH: And that changes - supposedly no exterior change to the !
lijbuilding?
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,MR. PARKHURST: Right .
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,kR. WALSH: You would move in additional equipment (unintelligible) `?
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R. PARKHURST: There will be one piece of additional equipment, ye� .
jI shouldn' t say one but one main piece of equipment . The rest is
relocating a lot of what we 've got and additional storage of raw
ingredients - that kind of thing.
�R. WALSH: And your application indicates no expansion of the pre- I
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sent staff?
NIR. PARKHURST: Well we may take on some additional staff members ,
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yes. I don' t see any more than two.
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MR. WALSH: And you are at how many now?
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(SMR. PARKHURST: Well we are presently at twenty-five that 's
counting Jon and myself.
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Approximately how many property owners did you have
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Iito contact? It must be quite a few.
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� MR. PARKHURST: About forty. j
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: And toY You our knowledge you haven' t had an -
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haven' t had any replies?
IMR. PARKHURST: Not a one. No, we feel we have a very good rapport;
with the neighborhood. Most of them come by for their daily bread
i- literally. We've gotten no complaints from the neighborhood.
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�ISECRETARY HOARD: You do charge them for it?
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IMR. ALBANESE: There have been complaints - they have been by me -
(they don't have any free pastry. No, They are the only ones that
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are expanding down there .
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Well is there any way that you ever plan on en
.closing that with-glass?
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MR. PARKHURST: No.
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!iCHAIRMAN WILCOX: For inclement weather, like in New York R the
�I cafes?
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�iMR. PARKHURST: I hadn't thought about that, no.
IMR. WALSH: Strolling violins , perhaps?
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(IMR. PARKHURST: Strolling violins that is a concept that needs
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to be wrestled with. Ithaca does not have enough strolling violins,.
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;CHAIRMAN WILCOX: How far will you be from the sidewalk?
MR. PARKHURST: The stanchions should be about two feet.
dCHAIRMAN WILCOX: Two feet and that still leaves you . . .
fMR. PARKHURST: Leaves us ten feet of covered area.
IIMR. ALBANESE : This drawing here is really - physically is about thie
same size except the roof part here the top is going to be straight
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than it is here - it is going to fit the contour of the windows and,
as you know, this is a landmark and with the help of the Planning
Board, Jon Meigs and his staff, they designed the signs and every-
jthing else to coincide with the architecture .
;MR. WALSH: Has this been by the Landmarks Commission?
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(MR. PARKHURST: Yes .
,MR. ALBANESE: We went by that first.
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CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Yes it has . Does any body want to see these?
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'Everybody familiar or do you want to see these?
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MR. PARKHURST: It got their unanimous approval.
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Any other questions?
MR. WALSH: Just one more to answer a problem - potentially. Pro-
posed by my colleague here. Is there any contemplated increase ini
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jthe signs to be used on the premises?
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MR. PARKHURST: Signs? No.
1MR. ALBANESE: Well apart from my - no this wasn't really in jest -
, it was at one time. We thought at one time that we might put in a
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ffvariance for a small sign about 100 foot by three feet high saying -
!j "Ithaca Calendar Clock Factory. " However, I got a price on it - its
11was about it was reasonable but I haven't had the approval et .'�
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ISo that 's not - it doesn't have anything to do with their sign.
'I That was an original - it was there before and if you can't - on
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Ione side you can see some of the writing it was up on the third
,Istory that did indicate - You can still see Ithaca Calendar Clock
! Factory. I just brought that up
i CHAIRMAN WILCOX; Okay, any other questions? Any other statements.
Anything else? Oka Y p ?.
Okay,. Anyone else like to speak in favor. (no one)
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(' Anybody here to speak in opposition to the variance? (no one) No
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'( other questions? We ' ll have the next case.
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BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS
(i CITY OF ITHACA NEW YORK
wMAY 45, 1981
! EXECUTIVE SESSION
APPEAL NO. 1363
The Board considered the request for use and area variances to per-I
emit the enlargement of the Clever Hans Bakery and to construct an
fioutdoor cafe in front of the building at 201 Dey Street. The de-
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cisions of the Board were as follows . j
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I!A. Question of the interior expansion
MS. HAINE: I move that the Board grant the requested use vari-I
i ance in appeal 1363 for expansion of the existing
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bakery production area within the building.
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: I second the motion.
VOTE: 5 Yes ; 0 No ; 1 Absent Use variance granted.
FINDINGS OF FACT: j
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1) The internal expansion will not effect the outside of the
building.
2) It is for production purposes and should not increase
traffice or parking significantly.
B. Question of the exterior cafe .
MR. WEAVER: I move that the Board deny the hard surfacing of i
i 432 square feet of space between the building and
the front sidewalk because it infringes upon re-
quired front yard and expands the area for commer-i
cial use
CHAIRMAN WTLCOX: I second the motion.
FINDINGS OF FACT:
1) It will have the effect of changing the character of the
neighborhood.
2) It will increase the parking demand.
3) With no showingthat the variance l
nce was .necessary to provide
a reasonable return, no economic hardship was shown.
VOTE: 4 Yes ; 1 No; 1 Absent
Cafe variance denied.
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j, BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
I COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS I
�! CITY OF ITHACA NEW YORK
ij
"I MAY 4, 1981
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�iSECRETARY HOARD: The next case is appeal number 1364 :
'I Appeal of ,Tames Iacovelli for an area vari,-
(� ante under Section 30 . 25 , Columns 11 and
12 to permit conversion of the existing one-
( family dwelling at 524 Linn Street to a two-
family unit . The property is located in a
R-2b (residential) use district and is de-
ficiant in front and side yard set back.
`CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Is there somebody here for this case?
MR. IACOVELLI : My name is James Iacovelli, I live at 148 Kendall
IlAvenue - I have a house on 524 Linn Street - I think the side yard
nand front yard is built too close to the property line. We 'd like
' to convert that to a two-family - we have off-street parking , I
think that is needed and we have no control over the property lines ;
i! CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay, how much parking can you provide?
IMR. IACOVELLI : Well we have enough for five cars - we have a two
,scar garage there and then we have another spot for three cars.
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' CHAIRMAN WILCOX: You don't have any financial information do you
Ito submit?
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�!MR. IACOVELLI : No I don' t.
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( CHAIRMAN WILCOX: The costs of . . . so you propose adding , could you
ilgive me an idea what it is you are going to add?
'IMR. IACOVELLI : We are not adding anything to the structure - all we
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Mare doing is just converting it to two floors .
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(CHAIRMAN WILCOX: One new kitchen?
HMR. IACOVELLI : Yes, one new kitchen, that ' s it .
-CHAIRMAN WILCOX: A bath?
j!MR. IACOVELLI : A half bath there is two existing baths and one
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1kitchen.
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!!MR. WALSH: Mr. Iacovelli, how close to the street line is the j
'(building itself in the front without regards to the porch?
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1MR. IACOVELLI: I 'd say probably ten feet, probably, without the
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porch. I think the porch is seven feet and then there is two feet
;nine feet maybe.
(CHAIRMAN WILCOX: So the new living which is new - is it all one
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i1floor or is it half or part of two floors or what?
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AR. IACOVELLI : It ' s a first floor and a second floor.
!!MR. WALSH: Mr. Iacovelli, with regard to the side yards, it is
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jindicated that in one case you have a distance of twelve feet to th�
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;side line and the other case is three feet to the side line, can you
indicate in each case how far beyond that side line the next adjacent
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building is? In other words, what is the distance between your buiJd-
ing and the next adjacent on the side which you have twelve feet?
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R. IACDVELLI : I 'd say that is probably another two feet at the
pnost - to the existing building.
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MR. WALSH: So on that side the distance between the two buildings
would be approximately fourteen feet?
R. IACDVELLI : About fourteen feet I ' d say.
1.,4R. WALSH: And on the other side?
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19R. IACOVELLI : I 'd say probably another fourteen feet on that side !
lso .
�R. WALSH: You estimate about seven feet?
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�R. IACOVELLI : Yes.
�R. WALSH: Is the parking, I can' t tell from the chart that has
Keen given us is the parking that you would have sufficient for the
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proposed use?
R. IACDVELLI : Yes it is ,
R. WALSH: Do you plan any external changes to the property?
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1l}4R. IACDVELLI : No . The only thing we did was we tore off an old
porch there - that enhanced the place- it had an old rickety
porch we tore off, But we are not changing anything on the exterior„
,except a good paint job .
R. WALSH: How many persons do you actually anticipate will occupy
this structure after you have made the required renovations that are
bermitted?
IR. IACOVELLI: Actually it would be a two--family home. One is a
Ijihree bedroom apartment, a three-bedroom unit on the first floor and
there is a four-bedroom unit on the second floor.
HAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay, now, . , .
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R. ANCELL: I' only see three bedrooms on the plan on the second floor.
R. IACDVELLI : There is a small room . . .
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CHAIRMAN WILCOX: No , there is four.
IIMR. ANGELL: Where?
` CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Top of the stairs I think it is.
� MR. ANGELL: Oh, is that a bedroom? j
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� MR. IACOVELLI : Yes .
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MR. WALSH: Do you anticipate - you are not living there now?
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MR. IACOVELLI : No I 'm not .
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MR. WALSH: You do not anticipate living there in the future?
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MR. IACOVELLI : No I,'m not.
(ICHAIRMAN WILCOX: Any other questions? Okay, thank you sir. Anyon�
like to speak in opposition? May we have the next case please?
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BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS
�I CITY OF ITHACA NEW YORK
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MAY 4 , 1981
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�i EXECUTIVE SESSION
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�1APPEAL NO. 1364
The Board considered the request for an area variance to permit
conversion of the existing one-family dwelling at 524 Linn Street
oto a two-family unit. The property is located in a R-2b use dis-
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�Itrict and is deficient in front and side yard set back. The
decision of the Board was as follows :
MR. WEAVER: I move that the Board grant the area variance re-
quested in appeal number 1364 .
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: I second the motion .
;VOTE : 5 Yes ; 0 No; 1 Absent Granted.
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FINDINGS OF FACT: j
i1) The property is in a R-2b zone where two-family use is
permitted.
2) The property meets all of the zoning requirements except for
front yard and one side yard set backs which would be difficult
to change .
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I' BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS
�! CITY OF ITHACA NEW YORK
MAY 4, 1981
,SECRETARY HOARD: The last case, Mr. Chairman, is appeal no . 1365 : 1
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i Appeal of Veda E. Quick for a use var -
ance under Section 30. 25 , Column 2
I� from the present "Quick' s Garage" use
�I to the use of the building as an oper
ations base for The Terminal Taxi Co.
The property is located at 302 Madison;
Street in an R-3b use district, where
I a taxi business is not a permitted use!,.
IMR. SULLIVAN: William Sullivan, I 'm an attorney and I 'm representing
Veda Quick. My address is 417 N. Aurora Street. I don't quite know
where to start on this in that we are talking about a piece of prop17
lerty which has been used for the last - well for more than the last]
,!ten years - almost the last ten years as a commercial garage. At t�e
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present time it is owned by Veda Quick who is back - the third row
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back in the red blouse and the checkered vest. Mrs . Quick as shown!
Ilin the papers before you, is a widow. Her husband, Gerald Quick,
(died last October. And since 1972 and through and including Octobetr
; of 1980 Gerald Quick operated his garage, known as Quick' s Garage,
��at that location. On the form by Mr. Hoard, there was never any
, variance granted by the Board of Zoning Appeals to permit him to do!,
,that and Mr. Hoard has questioned whether or not that was appropri-
� ate. However, before doing this Mr. Quick first when he built the
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garage and that was built in - sometime in 1970 I guess - or 1968 -,
�lfirst when he built the garage about 1968 , had consultations with
�Irepresentatives of the Building Department, including a gentleman
iiby the name of Mr. Grey and also as I am informed a Mr. Jones . Nowt
Hat that point he indicated that at some point in time he would like'
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Hto move his business which was over on Clinton Street about a block!
'laway from here down to his home. Finally in 1972 he did move the;
'business down - again after talking with Mr. Grey from the Building
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;Department and Mr. Jones, I 'm informed. Unfortunately Mr. Quick
can' t answer those questions for me and Mr. Grey is deceased Ilm
;,advised and Mr. Jones is no longer around so we are having some
problems in that regard but it is fair to say that since he has bee
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�jdown there between 1972 and October of 1980 there were no complaints
that were brought to his attention about his use of the premises atl
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that location. I 've - I should perhaps indicate that at one time
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the premises upon which this garage is located were occupied by two,
or three homes. The two or three homes - there are pictures of then
in the Building Department ' s file and we call them "homes" - that
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is being rather charitable because the homes were really not habita le
- they were not only eyesores as I understand it they were condemne
and Mr. & Mrs. Quick ultimately purchased the premises at a tax sale
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and did the City a favor at that time by tearing down these buildings .
I have a picture - actually I have three pictures showing the proper-
ty - which I have just marked as exhibits 10, 11 and 12 , I have j
arbitratily numbered them and I am showing those - please pass those
around. Those show the property itself - the house which is 302 ,
(together with the garage, which is 308 or 310 , someplace in there ,
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right next door. As you can see from the map that is attached to
the petition there is a carport that overhangs and the carport is
depicted in those pictures it overhangs the property lot between
the house and the garage . Now pictures 1 thru 9 which I am now
handing out show various views of the interior of the building -
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showing the nature of the building, how the building is finished
it shows the sorts of things that we talked about in our petition
about the block construction, the lights hanging from the ceiling,
(the concrete slab, I think the original pictures - 10, 11 and 12 lalso showed the macadam around the outside of the building. Now,
at the present time, the building is unoccupied. It has been unoc-
cupied since the day following Mr. Quick' s death in October. Mrs .
Quick did nothing for about a month following Mr. Quick's death
and then proceeded to liquidate all of the quipment that was inside
- all the equipment and trade fixtures that were inside the build-
ing, There was an auction and since the date of the auction, there
has been absolutely nobody using that garage. However, as I indi-
cated earlier, between about 1972 and October 1980 there was a con-
tinuous use of that premises as a garage. Indeed, by looking at
exhibits 10, 11 and 12 you can see that it was built as a garage
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;!with two regular size doors as well as one oversize door. The pur-
pose of the oversize door was to permit and to accommodate large
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(!vehicles such as large bread trucks and that sort of thing that
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!!wouldn' t fit into the regular doors , where those vehicles needed
repair. Mrs . Quick at the present time is a 57 year old woman who !,
, is retired on a disability retirement from the Ithaca City School
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;District . She doesn't have a great deal of financial resources.
When Mr . Quick was alive he provided for her but as in so many
jlcases , where this sort of thing happens , the people expect they are,
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going to live, and sometimes don' t make the same plans for death
that they would make if they knew it was coming. I mention that
'because it does relate to a hardship of Mrs. Quick individually -
( financially, in that she is not able to do some of the things that !
have been suggested. We arrived at the Planning Board meeting and ;
,fat that time it was suggested by letter dated April 28 , 1981 , which
it
I understand is in your packet also, that Mrs. Quick might be eligi-
Ible to apply for some funds through the City of Ithaca. I 've been '
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,jtof town Thursday and Firday of last week - got back Sunday nigh
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�( - late Sunday night but I did have a talk with Kathryn Evans who
�Iauthored the letter dated April 28th - I spoke with her today by
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Etelephone , Our conversation was cut short when she had someone else
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she had to talk to in the office. She promised to call me back but
didn' t get back to me. I did ask her what sorts of funding - what ,'
sorts of money might be available to Mrs . Quick if she was to con
jsider the sorts of things - such as Garden apartments and those sorts
jlof things that are discussed in this letter of April 28th. Kathryn
; Evans told me that Mrs . Quick would not be eligible for any of those
! funds unless Mrs . Quick was willing to act as her own developer in ,
building this or unless she were to sell the property and someone
I� else was to act as the developer. I indicated Mrs . Quick' s somewhat
! limited background educationally and also limited background in
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11business and Kathryn Evans suggested that perhaps it might be time
Itfor Mrs . Quick to consider selling the property. To which suggestion
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II took some offense, Mrs. Quick has lived there since the 1940s-
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; it ' s her home, it provides her with an income apartment upstairs
land we believe it should provide her also with some income from
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next door. The nature of the business which Mrs . Quick would want
to put into that premises is just a little different than Quick' s
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!garage was. While we are really talking about a repair garage, we
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fare really talking about a taxi repair garage as opposed to the t
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! of garage that Mr. Quick had open to the public . Since the time th4t
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� I prepared this appeal to your Board, I have spoken with Mr. Schwartz
,who is also here tonight - Mr. Schwartz from Terminal Taxi. Mr.
Schwartz indicates to me that if there were enough interest in the
neighborhood in having a neighborhood garage in that area, he would;
�Ibe willing, in addition to his own repair work, he would be willing]
I(to make application to the state for a license - is that right Bob?!
Ja permit - license?
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,MR. SCHWARTZ : Yes.
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�JMR. SULLIVAN: To do repair work at that location for people in the!
�Ineighborhood - it ' s not his intent to exclude any of that but his
lbasic interest is in keeping his cabs running keeping them on thei
street. The peition before you describes I think the sorts of things
that we are talking about . At the present time there are seven cabs
in service with Terminal Taxi although in past years there has been;
;as many as twelve cabs . The cabs are dispatched by radio - they
!don't have to report back to the base in order to pick up their
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!passengers , they are dispatched by radio and there would be somebody
Hat the premises twenty-four hours a day, although very unobtrusively.
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''They sit in a small room and - on a radio and that 's what they do.
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;Calls come by telephone and the radio calls go out over the airwave$ ,
flit certainly wouldn't be anything noticeable to the people in the
neighborhood. It' s interesting that Terminal Taxi , between the
'Years of 1961 and 1976 were located in a residential area. That
Iiresidential area is at 400 Old Spencer Road, out in back of the
y!Mauboussin Garage is that what is was known as? A & M Motors . .
'MR. SCHWARTZ : It started out as Bill Lynch Construction.
MR. SULLIVAN: As Bill Lynch Construction - in any event it down]
lin the area where the road goes up toward Upper Buttermilk n in that
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area of Old Spencer Road, They, were there for fifteen years and
so far as known either Mr. or Mrs . Schwartz - Mrs. Schwartz is here
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also , there were never any complaints from people in the neighborhood
regarding their presence in the neighborhood. They, at that time
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incidentally, they had twelve cabs . Now these cabs are on the
street in twelve hour stretches and the drivers who would return to!
home base at the beginning of each tour of duty - their cars would
be parked in the parking lot shown on pictures marked 10 , 11 and
12 - there is more than ample parking right there. In addition,
whatever parking will be necessary for mechanics is there also.
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While the cabs are out of service, there will be parking for those
cabs also. When Mr. Quick operated his garage, from time to time,
perhaps there were as many as fifteen or twenty cars , I think at
one time or another. Is that right Veda?
MRS. QUICK: As many as thirty sometimes .
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MR. SULLIVAN: Alright, as many as thirty cars on the premises . Nojw
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II 'd like to show you some more pictures and these pictures are de-
signed not to depreciate the neighborhood in any way, shape or form.
fAs a youth I was very familiar with the neighborhood having delivered
� a couple hundred newspapers a day in the area and it 's really - I
have fond memories of the neighborhood. But even back then and that
goes back a couple of years - even back then there were a mixture
of businesses and residential uses in that neighborhood. And the
neighborhood I am talking about really runs from Hancock Street on
the north and Second Street on the east, Cascadilla or Court Street+�
on the south and Meadow Street on the west. On picture 13 which I
am handing over now, that' s a view from the front door - one of the
garage doors of this property - is shown immediately out the front
door of the garage as a view which shows two businesses. One is thle
old Northside House which is now the Ithaca Gymnastics Center and
the other is I don't know what they call it - Begeacres , Cattle-
man Restaurant also it used to be called the Villa back when I
was delivering papers. Exhibit 14 is a more full view of the
Gymnastic Center and exhibit 15 is a larger view of the a full I
view of the Villa Restaurant.
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: That was the Villa when you were delivering papers?
IMR. SULLIVAN: That' s right.
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Not that long ago was it?
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!�R. SULLIVAN: Thanks , Mr. Chairman.
VIOICE FROM THE AUDIENCE : It was the Oakhurst .
!�R. WEAVER: Oakhurst, right.
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i�R. SULLIVAN: That' s before my time, alright? That makes me feel
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�oung again. Now, just a block away in another direction, over on
ancock Street on the corner of Hancock and Second, is a corner
I rocery store. Now that grocery store used to be called Gus ' ,
;maybe it still is - it ' s Gus ' s Italian Grocery Store - Gus , Mr.
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acciotti used to own it - and now I guess Gotti Gessini and his
wife own it - or run it. Right across the street, which is shown
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Ibn picture 17 is the old Gertrude $ Perry Barnes premises - it is
of a business at the present time - in fact there is a "for sale"
ign in front of it but that used to be the Woody's Paint Store.
�ECRETARY HOARD: You are submitting these for the record?
�] R. SULLIVAN: Yes . Is that alright?
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SECRETARY HOARD: Fine but you won' t get them back for your scrap
ook.
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1R. SULLIVAN: Well how long - you are going to give the Trust Co.
pictures back - how long before we get these back?
6CRETARY HOARD: Weill copy these
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l�ut those are too many to copy. Actually they should go in the fila.
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IRS. QUICK: We can make copies Bill .
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�R. SULLIVAN: Alright. We' ll get copies . Picture 18 shows a view
f another property just down the street . Now this is the former
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treat American property Plaza which is now being converted over to
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�ouse our Department of Motor Vehicles office ; there is a grocery
tore going in there and there is two or three other store fronts j
�hich- 1 understand are for rent if anybody is interested. In the j
background you can see the Bowl--O-Drome and you can also see Norton ';
I lectric. Exhibit 19 is a closer picture - a straight on picture of,
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hat same property; exhibit 20 is a picture of the Bowl-O-Drome.
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xhibit 21 shows Norton Electric straight on. Directly across the
street from Norton Electric is the Ithaca Scrapyard and I have two
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ictures of that T guess they call it Ithaca Scrap Processors .
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ave two pictures of that - one showing it from an angle and showing;
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ithe background - the Haverstick, a plubming supply building, across !
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`Route 13 but 22 and 23 both show the scrap yard which is about two
$lcoks away from the subject premises.
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';CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Would it suffice for you to say that you are trying
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"to show us the commercial nature of the neighborhood? Could you
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Aust submit these or . . .
,�R. SULLIVAN: Well all I want is to be sure everybody knows what j
I he pictures are so that it is clear from the record exactly what
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I� he pictures are.
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AIRMAN WILCOX: Are these all within 5001 ?
�iR. SULLIVAN: They are all within two or three blocks what I have
showed you thus far. I think within
�HAIRMAN WILCOX: We' ll look at them but I think . . .
IMR. SULLIVAN: I have 71 or 79 pictures to show you. The purpose
`lis to show that there is no change in the character of the neighbor '+
(hood by permitting this to continue as a modified garage. I don' t
(,think that would - it would be necessary even to come before you if
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it were going to be a conventional garage but with the transmittingi
l - using it as a base of operation for Terminal Taxi and since Ter-
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�I inal Taxi - they've been in business a good long time, I 'm sure
(,everybody knows - twenty or thirty years I guess and they are some- 1
what concerned because they have to come before the City and make
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(applications for rate increases every now and then and they . . .
!CHAIRMAN WILCOX: I don' t want to take away from your presentation
III don't want anything missed but if it is not necessary to go through
every picture, we'd appreciate it - just from the time standpoint.
IMR. SULLIVAN; Well let me see if I can't group some of these , if
�I can, alright?
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay.
MR, SULLIVAN: 24, 25 and 26 are pictures of Taynton Truck Yard.
ITayntons is an inter-state transporter.
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ICHAIRMAN WILCOX: How close is this?
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SMR. SULLIVAN: That' s about 21-, blocks away.
IMR. WEAVER: Don' t cross Route 13 .
ITR. SULLIVAN: Well , I 've got some pictures on the other side of
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IIRoute 13 but I won' t show those, if you don't want to, I 'll submit
ithose as a group. It' s interesting that a couple blocks in the other
direction and now let me move to 36, 37 and 38 , 39 a couple blocks
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in that direction - we have the sewage treatment plant run by the
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City of Ithaca and as a part of that we have - and you can see it
in 39 - we have a garage the City of Ithaca maintains in some way
for other to service their own trucks . Now that ' s within two or
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three blocks of the area where we are talking about. Back toward j
(Mrs. Quick' s home a little bit and shown in 40 , 41 , & 42 is a P $
C Market , the old Bolton' s Donut Shop, which I guess is going to be
a theatre of some sort now. 43 shows the Baptized Church of Jesus
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Christ, No. 13, I think - that ' s right across the street from the 1
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P $ C on First Street. I think the most interesting picture that
I have is a composite - exhibit 44 . Now if you were to imagine your-
self standing on Route 13 , someplace just west of Grossmans and
looking - you'd see a curb which is shown in 44 - it shows the back
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of a number of properties. Those properties are located within
three or four blocks of Mrs . Quick. I have some pictures on the
other side - I told you I wouldn't show them - I ' ll - let me submit
;the rest just as a group - there is 79 pictures including a picture
of the Calendar Clock . . .
(CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Are there any that are within a block?
MR. SULLIVAN: Certainly. The old northside house, the Villa Res- j
itaurant - actually the whole Great American Plaza is within a blocki.
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay, most of these are not .
iMR. SULLIVAN: They get further away if you make the radius four or
five blocks you include places like Hallam' s Corner Grocery, is thalt
the Calendar factory? That 's four or five blocks away.
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Okay.
(MR. SULLIVAN: Now the purpose in showing all these pictures is to
suggest that we are really are on the edge of a commercial strip
commercial area - and I could o over these in detail and talk
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labout how long these businesses have been there. Most of them, it
is fair to say, have been there certainly as long as the present
zoning ordinance is in effect and probably prior to the zoning
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�iordinance before. When the Planning Board considered this matter
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jthey specifically indicated that they were not dealing with the
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;question of hardship - they felt very compassionate toward Mrs. QuiO
has her predicament she finds herself in because of owning this
; particular piece of property. Mrs . Quick feels very comfortable in
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I'having Mr. & Mrs. Schwartz and the Taxi Company at the premises be
Icause of her acquaintance with them. She feels comfortable because
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(there is going to be someone there twenty-four hours a day. She
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feels that they would be really an asset to the neighborhood and not
a detriment in any way, shape or form. Certainly the traffic at thle
1premises will decrease with Terminal Taxi being there, from what it
! was at the time that Mr . Quick was there. The neighborhood at the
f{E,present time is a mix - there is an investment - Mr. & Mrs . Quick
I�originally put into this property to take some dilapidated structures
Doff the tax roll and put in a modern building which was consistent
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;with their needs and not inconsistent with the types of buildings
within a block or two of their home. We feel that there is a hard-i
Iship which we've shown. We feel that the hardship relating to the j
property - we feel that there is a personal hardship - with respect
to Mrs . Quick. I understand there are some people here who want to
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Ijspeak with respect to this application and I 'd like to reserve time;
land comments after they finish speaking.
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MR. WALSH: Bill, one or two questions . One , was there a building
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permit for the construction of the garage in 1968?
11MR. SULLIVAN: I understand there was but that is based on my con-
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'versation with Mr. Hoard. However it appears to have been complete.
� - the application - completed and signed by the contractor and not
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Irby Mr. Quick at least that is my recollection of my meeting with
( Mr. Hoard about that but the answer is yes.
,MR. WALSH: Can you speak to the question of whether this particular
! property might or might not be used for something other than the use
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'for which it is obviously suited, as a garage . . might under any
�icircumstances, be used as a for something which is permitted under!
IIthe Ordinance such as garden apartments or , . .
!!MR. SULLIVAN: : The conversion to garden apartments really means.- re
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flconstructing the entire building . If you look at pictures 1 thru 9!
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J!you will see that it' s a shell of a building , it' s got d floor - it' :
;got - not a little drain here and there -but great drains in the
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!ifloor - it was designed as a garage - it' s been used as a garage,
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Ithere is grease, and I don' t know what you do - it gets in the
jconcrete - maybe Bob Schwartz can address himself to that if you I
'want to talk with him about it . The - all the lighting fixtures hake
to be removed - exteriorly - I don't know how you do it to make it
�Ilook like a place where people would want to live but maybe you
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( could - but not without a great deal of expenditure of money which
! Mrs. Quick doesn' t have . I think it is a sad day if, as Kathryn
Evans suggests - maybe she ought to sell the place in order to let
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jsomebody else be able to afford to do these kinds of things . She
has lived there for the best years of her life and I don' t think j
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lits the function of this city to move her on to old age housing or j
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( something else at her young age - 57 .
MR. WALSH: Can you address yourself to the point she raises in herd
last paragraph where she states that a use variance applies to the
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land only, not the structures on it?
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R. SULLIVAN: Well I don't think that's true , you have to look at
the land as it exists you have to look at the structures as they
11exist the lot coverage as they exist there is a great deal - I
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{don' t she certainly doesn't give any basis for that conclusion
except that conclusory statement, There is an
!investment of several thousands of dollars and I don't know what it
ost to build the garage but I do know that Mrs . Quick just a week
r ten days ago completed or is in the process now of completing
, repair of a roof at a cost of $1 ,500. 00 to fix the roof on the
�lgarage to keep it from leaking, She has done a very good job I
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think, if you go down there and look at it you' ll see that it is a
ood job. She hasn' t done it in any way different than you or I
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would do it if it were our property. Incidentally talking about th6
roblem it turns out that the gas , the heat for that garage is on !
11t he same service as the house . Is the electricity separate Veda?
The electricity is separate - although the water - is that separate?
((That's the same water service that serves the house - those proper- '
ties are tied together and all of that is going to take a great dea
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of money to remedy, if in fact, you got to make it over into other i
iIhouses or whatever. In terms of convenience stores - I think there)
' is - one of the permitted uses is a neighborhood facility - serving'
Ithe neighborhood like a grocery store or barber shop or those sorts,
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of things . There is no need for that and that is demonstrated I
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think by the presence of Gus ' s on the corner a block away, the P $
k( C which is open twenty-four hours a day, two blocks away, the Great)
( American that closed down because there wasn' t enough need for it.
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Indeed the need for other type building such as that is shown by
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the fact that there is vacancies in the Great American building that
those people haven't filled although they've owned it now for a year
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that was before this Board maybe they were here six months ago -
some of you may remember better than I . There is - I don't think
there is any possibility of that. Mrs . Quick has had an opportunity
fto rent the facility for other type uses which were not even the
same as what Mr. Quick used to do. In those - they would not be
permitted under the Ordinance and at more money. Mrs . Quick, how-
ever feels that with Mr. & Mrs. Schwartz they are responsible people
in the community and they are not going to do things, either with
the property or with her, that aren't consistent with the best
interests of the neighborhood.
MR. WALSH: One last question. Under the use proposed, would there
be any external storage of vehicles , tires , parts , petroleum (unint 1)
or anything else of that order? �
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MR. SULLIVAN: Bob, I 'm going to have to ask you. Under the use
Il that you would put the property to, would you store tires or auto i
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parts or gasoline or other petroleum products outside the building?
MR. SCHWARTZ : No.
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MR. ANGELL: Would anything be stored outside the building? j
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(MR. SCHWARTZ : Just cars that aren't in use.
`MR. SULLIVAN: Mr. Schwartz and I have talked - that he might want
to have an underground tank put in but that is something that he
would have to investigate later on and that 's not part of this
application. That would have a gas pump and a meter right but it
+would have to meet all codes even '
possible and we don' t know that
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- meet all codes with all safety provisions provided. Although
4 that 's not unusual - down at the old premises where County Ambulanti
was on the 600 block of Cascadilla Street - right out in front of
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jj that building there is a gas pump. If you drive by you will see
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it and there is an underground tank that used to service the Counti�
j� Ambulance vehicles when Mr. Hallam operated that facility - and
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that 's very much the same kind of a location that we are talking
f about here. Any other questions from me before the others? I
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�! would like to reserve , again, . . .
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MR. ANGELL: One question - in the spirit of this neighborhood
that is being gradually upgraded, will anything be done to improve!
j the property? Plantings? Foliage of any kind planted around the
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black top or anything of that nature?
I� MR. SULLIVAN, Well I haven't discussed that with - Mr. Angell, I
think is talking about screening type improvements - shrubbery and,
that sort of thing. I haven't talked with Mrs. Quick about it but',
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I certainly don't see any problems with it and if that is something
that concerns this Board, I 'd certainly think that Mrs . Quick would.
agree to that, in fact, on her behalf, let me agree to do it to
Ihave her do it , if that is something that is important. In fact ,
I kind of like the idea myself, and I would talk with Mrs . Quick
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11 about it.
CHAIRMAN WILCOX; Any other questions? Is there anyone else who
would like to speak in favor of the application? Please give your,
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f name and address sir.
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MR. IRVIN: I 'm Lloyd Irvin, 216 Madison Street. I live directly
!� across the road from Mrs. Quick. I have lived there about twenty
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one years , I 've never seen a mess even when Mr. Quick ran his
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garage, there were no extra cars parked out in the yard. What I
am giving you more or less is just a character reference of the
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property and of Mrs . Quick and I don't believe that she would rent,
(I to anybody that would - she would let anybody who she rented to
I�} make a mess of the property. I 've lived there twenty years and
lI 've never seen anything like , you know that would be detrimental
ill to it - make it look bad and I don't think it ever would be . . .
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j CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Do you live next to the gymnasium?
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1; MR. IRVIN: No, I live across the road, on the corner.
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Are the houses either side of the Quick residencle
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- those are all still houses there?
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f MR. IRVIN: They are which?
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I; CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Are they all homes that are on either side of the
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!� Quick property?
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MR. IRVIN: Going down Second Street there is a home , yes . And
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then the next one is on the other side of the parking lot where
the garage is , and that is a house but that is situated on Third
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l Street. The back of it would be to the (unintell. ) That ' s
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about all that I wanted to say - just kind of a character witness;
- that' s all .
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Thank you. Anyone else like to speak in favor? '
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MR. LOVITT: My name is Milton Lovitt and I live next door to Mrs .
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Quick and I 've been living there for about fifteen to twenty years
and so far I can say that Mr. Quick never had a hazardous in or
it out of this driveway - you know, it wouldn't block the street in
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' any way.
CHAIRMAN WILCOX: Thank you. Anyone else in favor? Is there
anyone here who wants to speak in opposition to the application?
I (no one) Are there any other questions? l
I MR. SULLIVAN: Incidentally there are twenty-seven - I heard you
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ask on some other cases - there were twenty-seven neighbors that
!I were mailed to .
CHAIRMAN WILCOX, There were twenty---seven?
MR. SULLIVAN: Yes - on this case.
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II CHAIRMAN WILCOX: And you didn' t have any negative replies? We
don' t have any negative replies on the record either so . . . If
there are no otheruestions then that concludes ludes the public hear
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ing, we will go into executive session. As I said earlier, some-!
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i times the executive session can be fairly lengthy but anybody whol
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i) wants to wait - you are welcome to. Thank you for coming.
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�I MR. SULLIVAN: In the 300 block of Madison Street, the only house'
the only building is the house of Mrs. Quick and this garage.
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Other than that - there are no others on 300. There is a house
on the corner of Third Street, which backs up - the side yard is
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on Madison Street but this is the only property in the 300 block
l� of Madison. On the other side of the street there are none,
although the side of the North Side House backs up. Across the
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' street from the Quick premises is an empty lot. It has been there;'
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Ifor as long as I remember. That 's all .
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BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
COMMON COUNCIL CHAMBERS
CITY OF ITHACA NEW YORK
MAY 4, 1981
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Appeal No. 1365
MR. WALSH: I move that the Board deny the use variance requested
in appeal number 1365 .
MR. WEAVER: I second the motion.
VOTE : 5 Yes ; 0 No; 1 Absent Denied
FINDING OF FACT:
1) There was no showing that the property could not be economically
used for a use permitted in that zone .
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i; I , BARBARA RUANE, DO CERTIFY that I took the minutes of the Board
j; of Zoning Appeals , City of Ithaca, New York, in the matters of
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Appeals numbered 1361 , 1362 , 1363, 1364 , 1365 and 5-1-81 on May 4 , i
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1981 at City Hall , City of Ithaca, New York; that I have trans-
cribed same, and the foregoing is a true copy of the transcript
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of the minutes of the meeting and the executive session of the
Board of Zoning Appeals , City of Ithaca, on the above date , and
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the whole thereof to the best of my ability,
VI
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Barbara C. Ruane
Recording Secret ry
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I� Sworn to before me this
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day. of 1981 j
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Notary Public
I JEAN J. HANKINSON
NOTARY PUB'''. STATE OF NEW YORK
I( N0. 55'1690300
QUALIFIED IN TON PI(INS COUNT,
MY COMMISSION EXPIRP MARCH 30,19
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